Modus Operandi of REAs Who "Sells...Sublets..." His Authority to Practise Real Estate Agency

How does a Registered Estate Agent "sells or sublets" his authority to practise real estate agency to unregistered persons?

According to information gathered from my "students" at a college (now university college) where I was giving talks/lectures on the subjects of "estate agency law and practice", the subletting of "licence to practise" is usually carried out these ways:
# 1 person who "rents" the licence will pay the "sleeping REA" a monthly "rent" of a few thousands Ringgit plus 10% to 20% of agency fees collected for the right to exclusive use the licence; or,
# a number of persons, with each paying a few hundreds RM per mth plus 10% to 20% of commission collected in the each month as "rent" in return for the right to recruit their quota of loosely attached illegal Negotiators to practise real estate agency.

In order to ensure that the sleeping principal:
# can disclaim/escape responsibility when there are troubles - such as when there is a suit for misrepresentation by a customer or a prosecution by the authority; or,
# can file a claim for estate agency fee,
all formal documents - such as an agreement for fees - will be executed with calculated ambivalence where the letterhead and registration nos are that of the estate agency/REA but the name used is not that of the REA (usually a nickname), the signature is also not that of the REA and the designation used does not square with the status of the REA so that the "sleeping REA" who "sublets licence" can:
# when he/she needs to disclaim responsibility, allege that the document was not executed by him/her as the signature, the name and the designation were clearly not his/hers - someone without her authority simply misuse her letterhead and registration numbers; or,
# when he/she wants to sue for fees, allege that the document was indeed executed by him/her only that he/she was using another signature, another name and a lower designation - the letterhead and registration numbers which were there would now be used to support his/her case...

Calculated ambivalence is one of the trademark practice of the rogues, the crooks, the money launderer and now the sleeping REAs who sublet their licence too...

Will our Malaysian courts allow calculated ambivalence to have its way when there are specific legal provisions (not to mention common law) requiring the use own signature and name - not other's signature nor other's name nor nickname - to execute formal documents/agreements?

Will our courts allow a professional practice or even a layman not to use his/her own signature or his/her official name in the formal execution of documents/agreements?

Only a test case can provide definitive answers to the questions...

Stay connected to this blog for more on estate agency related issues...

Cheers,

Douglas, GT TANHALIM