The backlog for Fidelity Fund Certificates (FFCs) may finally be coming to an end, bringing huge relief for property professionals.
Earlier this year, the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority appointed Johlene Wasserman as the new Executive for Licensing and Registration. Her mission: to minimise website downtime, ensure that all 12 of the PPRA’s categories of property practitioner are covered by the system, and get FFCs issued faster.
The plan appears to be working. In a webinar on 24 November, Wasserman shared the most recent statistics on the PPRA’s progress. In the week leading up to the webinar, more than four times more applications were closed than opened, and from April to October the PPRA issued almost 29 000 new FFCs.
Wasserman also revealed the PPRA’s schedule for opening FFC registration to all property professionals. Currently only estate agents and attorney employees can apply for certificates, but the system will open for managing agents on 15 December, developers in January and business brokers in February. All other categories are expected to be brought online by April 2024.
This is expected to triple the volume of FFC applications that the PPRA receives, which will further test their ability to process them.
A huge relief for the industry
Prompt processing of FFC applications is critical for the real estate industry. Without a valid FFC in place, sales and rental estate agents cannot legally trade or claim commission for any services performed while they did not hold an FFC.
The progress made thus far will be well received in the industry and hopefully marks a long-term change for the better in the administration of FFCs.
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