IT DECREES:
Article 1º
Denominate
Real estate broker in Panama as individual person or corporation who habitual ly and professionally evolves as mediator, intermediary, agent, representative or commission agent between the owner of real estate property and third parties, for the effects of its sale or renting. They are excluded from this definition those owners or people who exert other activities related with real estate , such as promotion, administration, collection of renting, maintenances and similar.
Article 2º
To be able to exert the profession of real estate broker in the Republic of Panama it is required to have license of real estate broker, which will be issued by the Technical board of Real estate that is created by means of this Decree Law. For this, it will have to fulfill the following requirements and all those that are established or will be established by the Executive branch:
Paragraph. Those applicants that prove to have exerted in a continuous way the profession of real estate broker during a period of no less than ten years, will be exempted of the obligation to present/display the examinations here mentioned.
Article 4º
the corporations who request the real estate broker license will have to fulfill the following requirements, in addition to the ones indicated in article 2 of this Decree Law, except the one contemplated in numeral 3 of such article:
Article 12º
prohibits the real estate brokers:
1. To make acts, in the exercise of its profession, that constitutes crimes against patrimony or against the public faith or the administration of justice, or against the honor and/or any other crime whose nature has relation with the honorability, good behavior and weakness of the broker.
The commission of these crimes will entail the definitive cancellation of the license granted to the violator, which will have to be based on the pertinent condemnatory failure, properly executed and authenticated.
2. To make acts that, even though they do not constitute crimes, cause damage to its clients or to third parties or attempt against professional ethics
Article 13º
The Technical board is authorized to impose the penalties contemplated in this Decree Law and those that pay attention to the different regulations that develop to the present Decree Law, taking care of the gravity of the infraction. Among them, the following ones:
1. To admonish, verbally or in writing, by lack of professional ethics.
2. To impose fines of one hundred dollars ($100.00) up to ten thousand dollars ($10, 000,00) in favor of the National Treasure, by infractions of the present Decree Law.
3. To suspend definitely or temporarily the granted license, depending on the seriousness of the actions taken.
4. To sanction with a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10, 000, 00) to the individual person or corporation whom, in any form, without being dedicated to the business of real estate brokerage without being authorized to make it in accordance with this Decree Law. This fine will be applied without prejudice of the corresponding criminal action.
5. To send to the Public Ministry the performance, on both the brokers and those who infringe the present Decree Law, that it can be considered as crime, so that the possible criminal responsibility of the violator is determined. The Technical board will guarantee to those affected the due process when imposing the sanctions authorized.
The sanctions applied by virtue of this Decree Law will be published in the Official Gazette, but only for aims of public knowledge.
Article 14º
the Technical board will cancel, by its own right or by request of the interested part, the license of real estate broker to all that to whom it is proved that it has been obtained fraudulently.
The cancellation of the license contained in this article will be for a period of one to ten years, depending on the seriousness of the misdemeanor. In case of re-incidents, the cancellation will be definitive.
Article 15º
In all transaction in which a real estate broker participates the obligation of who hires him, to pay the prevailing commission in the market by the benefit of its services will be presumed, unless otherwise is agreed.
Article 16º
The individual person or corporation who at the moment are engaged in real estate brokers activities, protected by its effective commercial license at the time of the expedition of the present Decree Law, it will have a term of six months to obtain the license in accordance with this Decree Law.
Article 17º
The real estate brokers are forced to keep the accounting registries of their activities, in accordance with the effective article 75 of the Code of commerce and other laws.
Article 18º
The Executive branch, through the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, will regulate the present Decree Law.
Article 19º
In everything not specifically foreseen in this Decree Law, the same dispositions of the Code of commerce that are not incompatible with the same one, will supple mentally apply.
Article 20º
This Decree Law revokes all the dispositions that are contrary.
Article 21º
This Decree Law will begin to prevail from its promulgation.