RERA regulates Owners Association Managers

Manama, Nov. 12 (BNA): Owners Association Managers are the latest category of real estate service providers to be regulated by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). Owners Association Managers will be required to apply to RERA for a License and must meet the eligibility criteria in order to be granted a License to operate as an Owners Association Manager in Bahrain. Owners Association Managers currently operating in Bahrain have until January 4, 2019 to regularise their affairs and apply to RERA for a Licence. From January 5, 2019 it will be illegal to operate as an Owners Association Manager without a License and penalties will apply for non-compliance as per Law 27/2017 regulating the real estate sector. “When we launched RERA on March 1, we implemented licensing requirements for Developers of off-plan sales projects, real estate brokers and sales agents. We are pleased to advise that this licensing requirement is now extended to include property managers and owners association managers with other categories due to follow over the coming weeks,” RERA CEO Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said. RERA briefed leading Owners Association Managers at a meeting on the key requirements, rights and responsibilities under the new regulations. All Owners Association Managers will now be required to participate in the RERA Continuous Development Programme (CPD) to avail of and renew their License on an annual basis. The training course will take place on December 9-13 and all Owners Association Managers are encouraged to register as soon as possible by logging onto www.rera.gov.bh. Owners Association Managers must be RERA licensed in order to attend the course. “one of the key objectives of RERA is to ensure the delivery of efficient, transparent and effective services in the real estate sector by professional service providers, the RERA Continuous Development Programme is a very important component in delivering on this objective and we are delighted with the positive response to this initiative from real estate service providers themselves and indeed from the broader market,” Commenting on the CPD programme, Shaikh Mohammed said. He encouraged Owners Association Managers and other real estate service providers to visit the RERA website (www.rera.gov.bh ) for full information on licence application and other services.