Legal professionals are generally expected to apply for their Fidelity Fund certificates for the following year by October 1 of each year. Due to the planned changes, it is anticipated that the application process for the 2019 Trust Fund Certificates will begin on November 12, 2018 to ensure compliance with the Act and its rules. In order to comply with both the law and its rules, we encourage lawyers to apply for their certificate in November 2018. Reporting periods When applying for a Fidelity Fund certificate, the required balances refer to the following quarters, which we explain in more detail in the table: Practitioners (lawyers and lawyers with an escrow account) must obtain a certificate from the Fidelity Fund each year. This certificate, without which one cannot practise, is issued on behalf of the Fund by the Council for Legal Practice. Read more here Certificate holders should note that it can be withdrawn or expire under certain circumstances. With respect to the withdrawal of the certificate, if the authority is summoned by a court or arbitrator or decides on its own initiative to withdraw a trust fund certificate, it has the authority to do so in accordance with certain provisions of section 52 (1) of the Act. Article 52(4) of the Law sets out the circumstances in which the certificate expires. such as the date of death of the certificate holder. If the Fidelity Fund`s certificate is withdrawn or expires under section 52, the person holding the certificate must return it to the authority. If this is not possible, the person concerned must provide an affidavit indicating why the certificate is not returned. To obtain a certificate from Fidelity Fund under the Act and its rules, legal practitioners must meet the following requirements: The Board wishes to assure legal professionals that they will have sufficient time to apply for their Fidelity Fund certificates. A property manager must apply to the AMF for a certificate from the Fidelity Fund within the prescribed time and with the prescribed fee every three years.
“Authority” means the Property Practitioner Regulatory Authority established by section 5 of the Real Estate Practitioners Act, 22 of 2019 (the “Act”) and a legal entity accountable to the Minister. If the Authority receives the application with the prescribed fee, it will issue the Fidelity Fund certificate if the property practitioner meets all the requirements set out in the legislation or is not excluded from issuing a Fidelity Fund certificate. The certificate shall be issued in the prescribed form and shall be valid until 31 December of each year. Information on scholarships can be found here on the Legal Practitioners` Loyalty Fund website. This applies not only to brokers who sell residential properties, but also to rental agents, commercial and commercial real estate agents, agricultural real estate agents, business brokers and agents who “issue” properties for sale or rent (e.g., “show house custodians”). Property practitioners who are now required to hold a Fidelity Fund certificate, unless excluded, to practise within the meaning of the Property Practitioners Act of 22 of 2019 may have certain questions about the application process for obtaining the certificate, its issuance by the AMF and any exclusion from the issuance, its modification, withdrawal and forfeiture. You can check the validity of an agent`s FFC on the PPRA website. Subsection S78(1) is renumbered as subsection 86(2); § 78 (2) (a) becomes § 86 (3) § 78 (2A) becomes § 86 (4) With the implementation of the remaining Chapter 2 of the Legal Practice Act on November 1, 2018, the Law Societies will be dissolved on October 31, 2018, with regulatory functions assumed by the Council of Legal Practice and, by delegation of authority, by the provincial councils. If you have a Fidelity Fund certificate, the agency may need to amend it. The Authority may inform the holder of the trust fund certificate in writing of its intention to amend the certificate or part thereof.
The proposed amendment must be justified by the authority and the certificate holder may respond to the proposed amendment(s) within a prescribed time frame. When the lawyer accesses the online system for the first time, he must first enter his identity number and e-mail address, which have been communicated to the regulatory authority, in the space provided for this purpose in the system. The system checks the lawyer against the information they have already received from the regulator`s system and sends the credentials to the lawyer via SMS and/or email. If the system does not allow you to continue with the message “Password and user ID cannot be resolved”, you will need to verify your ID number and email address with the regulator. Therefore, it is important for legal practitioners to update their data with the regulator if it changes. To complete the online application form, lawyers must register using credentials received from the system. At the first login, the system requires a legal advisor to create a unique and secure password. The password must be at least six characters long and contain at least one uppercase letter and one special character. The system stores this password, and the lawyer uses the password along with the other credentials (username and user ID) to access the system in the future. Legal practitioners must have the required financial information for the previous four calendar quarters beginning on October 1 and ending on September 30 of the following year for the categories listed in the attached table.
Legal professionals must also provide the regulator with the following information: Fiduciary account balances for the last four quarters (31.12.2017; 31.03.2018; 30.06.2018 and 30.09.2018) for the following accounts: Under the Real Estate Agency Business Act (112 of 1976), every real estate agent and estate agent must obtain a Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC) from the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA). It is illegal to act as a real estate agent unless the ARPP has issued you an FFC for the current calendar year. It is also illegal to charge a commission if you did not have a valid FFC at the time of providing the services to the client. The legal practitioners` loyalty fund certificate application form was published on September 30, 2015 and certain information fields are mandatory in your application. To support practitioners, the application form has been automated and applications are only accepted through this online process. Section 84(1), (2) and (3) of Law 28 of 2014 on Legal Practice (the Act) states that: The lawyer must assign these accounts to the section of the system if he is not already assigned. In preparation for the application process, legal professionals are reminded to be prepared to provide the following information regarding all practices with which they are associated as a practitioner, partner or director: If an amended Fidelity Fund certificate is issued to the property manager, the AMF must attach to the amended certificate all the reasons for the change; Provide all responses to the certificate holder and request the immediate return of the original Fidelity Fund certificate. The date on which the Authority serves the amended Fidelity Certificate of Funds on the property practitioner is the date on which it becomes effective. If the Property Practitioner prevents or otherwise inhibits the Authority from delivering or delivering the amended Fidelity Fund Certificate, the amended Certificate will take effect on the date the Authority attempted to serve the Certificate on the Property Practitioner. Some of the parties excluded from receiving certificates issued by Fidelity Funds are: The Legal Practice Council (LPC) wishes to advise all legal professionals (lawyers and lawyers with escrow accounts) that the opening date of the application portal for the Fidelity Fund`s 2021 certificate will be announced in due course.