Expert opinion on competition in the real estate market.

In addition to general recommendations to increase economic protections for consumers, the Power offers two options for mitigating the Hoge Act.

General recommendations

• Recommendation #1: Implement a commitment to compile a complete list of services provided by the professional so that the client has complete information to negotiate fees.
• Recommendation #2: Unify the rules for displaying advertisements so that payment of fees is placed on the buyer or seller in order to improve clarity of information and limit the effects of shifting fees from seller to buyer.
• Recommendation #3: Subject online real estate advertising platforms to the display obligations of the 2017 ordinance regarding information for consumers engaging with real estate professionals.
• Recommendation No. 4: The need to develop a concise information card for technical diagnostic documentation to make it easier to understand and read.
• Recommendation No. 5: Providing free of charge to the general public property data held by notaries public on real estate prices and commissions charged by intermediary professionals. The database of property prices (the so-called DVF database) made available free of charge to the general public has its disadvantages. The actual sale price listed in the database corresponds to the taxable transaction and therefore includes the amount of fees when they are paid by the seller. This may artificially increase the sale price and limit the interest of this database for private individuals and professionals who mainly use it to evaluate real estate prices. The authority recommends that the data held by the Superior Council of Notaries relating to real estate characteristics, sale prices and commissions received by intermediary professionals be made available to the general public free of charge.
• Recommendation #6: Remove the prohibition on displaying real estate advertisements in notary windows.

Two options for mitigating Hoge's Law

The first option aims to relax the conditions under which intermediation professionals offer their services.

Regarding the clarification of the provisions of the Hoge Act

The authorities propose, on one hand, to clearly define the services related to the qualification of real estate sales mediation, and on the other hand, to specify those that do not fall under this category, without claiming to provide a complete and exhaustive list. According to the authorities, mediation activities involve client selection and price negotiations for sales. Thus, services that are not elements of mediation activities will not be subject to the principle of reward for results established by Article 6 of the Hoge Law. The diagram below illustrates the specific consequences of these recommendations:

Regarding the simplification of access conditions to the profession

The authorities recommend, on one hand, not to link the acquisition of a professional card to having three years of education after graduating from high school aimed at obtaining an economic, legal, or commercial education, and on the other hand, to ease and harmonize the requirements for the duration of professional experience specified in Article 14 of Decree No. 72-678 from July 1972, setting it at 4 years regardless of the status of the relevant professional (manager, subordinate employee, or person authorized by the cardholder). Additionally, free professions not covered by the Hoge law but entitled to engage in intermediary activities should also be subject to the principle of performance-based compensation (lawyers, land surveyors, agronomists, foresters, geodesists, and notaries).