The Real Estate Board and the Commission of Strata Corporations are governed by separate statutes, with separate mandates, operating as separate regulatory entities, with their own respective inspectorates. They however share the same physical location at 24 Trafalgar Road, and administrative functions.  The organizations also have the same Chief Executive Officer and usually, identical Directors of the Board.

The Real Estate Board

The Real Estate Board was established under the Real Estate (Dealers and Developers) Act, as the regulator of the private real estate sector in Jamaica. A brief history of the organization may be found here.

The Real Estate Board has the power/responsibility to:

• consider and determine applications for:
  • registration as real estate dealers and real estate salesmen;
  • licences and the renewal of licences to engage in the practice of real estate business as real estate dealers and real estate salesmen; and
  • registration of development schemes and renewals
• monitor the activities of:
  • real estate dealers and salesmen conducting real estate business,
  • developers in relation to the execution of prepayment contracts, advertising of development scheme, and maintenance of the trust account;
• make enquiries and collect information as necessary for the purpose of carrying out its functions; and
• generally take any lawful measures as it may consider necessary to assist it in carrying out its functions under this Act and in protecting the mutual interests of persons entering into land transactions.

The Commission of Strata Corporations

In 2010, the Commission of Strata Corporations (CSC) was established under the passage of the Registration (Strata Titles) Act. 

The functions of the Commission are to:

• monitor, regulate and supervise the functioning of Strata Corporations;
• keep a register of Strata Corporations;
• provide for the mandatory registration of each Strata Corporation and the submission of annual financial statements and reports;
• facilitate the resolution of disputes, in particular, those between a Corporation and a proprietor;
• consider complaints regarding individual contribution including any applied interest;
• enforce by-laws; and
• provide for the procedure to be followed where a proprietor fails, neglects or refuses to pay contributions to the Corporation.

Other services of the Commission include:

• initial registration of Strata Corporations;
• issuing of certificates of registration;
• issuing of certificates authorizing Corporations to exercise power of sale;
• where it is derived that interest charged or maintenance fees charge is excessive, the Commission may issue orders to overturn or vary these;
• issuing an order to ensure that an Annual General Meeting is held or actually arranging the AGM itself where the corporation is non-functional; and
• any other service that the Commission needs to perform whilst monitoring, regulating and supervising Strata Corporations.