Anyone in Accra can call themselves an agent, and for a long time anyone could. Most rentals and many sales still go through informal agents who find you a place, charge you for viewing it, and take a commission at the end.
The law has changed. The Real Estate Agency Act, 2020 (Act 1047), in force since 29 December 2020, set up the Real Estate Agency Council and says a person needs a licence from it to work as a real estate broker or agent.
What the Act does
- A licence is required to provide agency services - finding buyers, sellers, landlords or tenants for a fee.
- The Council keeps a public register of licensed brokers and agents, and can inspect their premises.
- Licences can be revoked, including where one was obtained by fraud.
- It does not set commission rates. What an agent charges is still agreed between you and them.
Implementing regulations had been in preparation, and the Council has been urging the trade to comply. In practice many agents in Accra are still not licensed. That does not make the law optional - it makes it your job to check.
Checking an agent
- Ask for their Council licence number, and check it with the Real Estate Agency Council.
- Ask for a business registration and an office address you can visit.
- Check they act for the owner. Ask to see the landlord’s or seller’s written authority, or meet the owner before you pay anything.
- Search the name and phone number online. Fake agents use the same number for many fake listings.
What agents charge
In rentals, the common pattern in Accra is:
- A viewing or “inspection” fee for each property shown. Ask what it is before you go, and refuse to pay to view a place that has not been confirmed as available.
- A commission when you take a place, usually worked out as a share of the rent advance - so the longer the advance, the more the agent earns. A share of the advance on top of an unlawful advance is still a large sum. Agree it in writing before you view.
In sales, the commission is usually paid by the seller, as a percentage of the price. Ask who pays, and how much, before you start.
Because the Act sets no rates, everything here is negotiable. Get it in writing.
— The rent advance — Finding a place to live
The fake agent
The commonest housing fraud in Accra is the agent who does not represent the owner: they show you a vacant house, take an advance and a commission, hand you keys, and disappear - sometimes after “renting” the same place to several people.
- Never pay rent or an advance to an agent. Pay the landlord, to the landlord’s own account, against a receipt and a signed tenancy agreement.
- Do not pay to “hold” a property you have not seen with the owner.
- Meet the owner. A genuine agent will arrange it.
— Housing and land scams — Your tenancy agreement
If an agent cheats you
- Report it to the police with every receipt, message and number.
- Report an agent to the Real Estate Agency Council. An unlicensed agent is breaking the Act; a licensed one can lose the licence.
- For a rental, the Rent Control Department hears disputes between landlords and tenants.