Anyone wishing to work as a self-employed estate agent must be registered in the table or providers or on the list of trainees of l’Institut professionnel des agents immobiliers (IPI). All the estate agents authorised to work as such are therefore in this table or on this list.
If you want to use an estate agent, they must be registered with the IPI. You can, then, be sure that you are not using an illegal agent or a crook.
So, it is essential that you check if they are in the table of providers or on the list of trainees approved by the IPI.
How can you check that an estate agent is registered with the IPI?
It's very simple: use the IPI search module.
You can start your search in this module by entering the name of part of the name of an estate agent, or the name of an estate agents or a specific region.
If you work with an employee and not an independent agent, you should be aware that this employee does not need to be registered in the table of providers or on the list of trainees. However, they must operate under the supervision and responsibility of an estate agent who is registered.
All the estate agents in this table or on this IPI list:
- are subject to its control;
- must respect the estate agent code of ethics;
- must have insurance covering their professional activities;
- must undergo ongoing training;
- must use a quality account (called a "third party account") for all the third-party funds not ultimately intended for them.
These obligations are imposed on all estate agents and aim to protect their clients.
What happens if an estate agent does not respect the code of ethics?
If an estate agent does not respect the code of ethics, you can submit a complaint to the IPI.
Your complaint will be handled within the IPI by the legal adviser. If the adviser dismisses your complaint, you can ask the general legal adviser to revise the decision through a motivated request. You will be kept informed of any decision to dismiss your complaint.
If your complaint is sent to the Executive Chamber of the IPI, you will automatically receive the terms of the decision (in which the decision itself is made) regarding your complaint.
You can find further information on submitting a complaint on the IPI website.
What happens if an estate agent does not respect the code of ethicThe IPI took out a group insurance policy that covers all IPI members, i.e. all estate agents in the table of providers or on the list of trainees. Under certain conditions, this insurance policy also covers any damage that results from fraud (the insolvency of the estate agent).
Therefore, if one of these estate agents causes you damage, IPI group insurance may compensate you, if the required conditions are met.
If you believe that an estate agent caused you damage, please consult the IPI website page dedicated to insurance, where you will find more information on this subject.
Additional information
Professional Institute of estate agents
Rue du Luxembourg 16
1000 Brussels
Tel.: +32 2 505 38 50
Fax: +32 2 503 42 23
Email: info@ipi.be
