Supervision
In order to make sure that estate agents and agencies comply with the law, FMI undertakes various kinds of supervision. It often starts with a report from the public. However, FMI can also decide to initiate supervision on its own accord.
Three forms of supervision
- Supervision following a report.
- Authority-initiated supervision.
- Thematic supervision.
Supervision following a report
Most of the supervisory matters handled by FMI begin with a report from the public. The person filing the report is often critical of how the estate agent acted during a mediation contract, or how the agency fulfills its responsibilities. However, the supervision is not limited to the criticism contained in the report, we may also come to investigate other components of the mediation contract. The supervision can also include other contracts or the estate agents' activities in general if justified.
A report may also be filed by another authority who discovered that the estate agent or agency has acted inappropriately. For example, the Swedish Tax Agency may discover that an estate agent has acted incorrectly during their audits.
Authority-initiated supervision
FMI can initiate a supervisory matter on its own accord. This might be triggered by an article or an advertisement in a newspaper, a TV programme or information on the internet. FMI may have been informed of a decision or accessed information from other authorities pertaining to an estate agent or agency. The information might also have been communicated to us verbally.
Thematic supervision
During a thematic supervision, FMI selects a legal issue or concept which we wish to investigate. We decide which estate agents or agencies will be investigated and only focus on the issue in question.
The purpose of thematic supervisions is to accelerate the development of a practice or specify what is to be regarded as good practice for estate agents regarding specific issues. The purpose may also be to see which previous supervisory interventions have proven effective.
We may also use thematic supervision when we need to compile data or practice regarding a specific issue. Following a thematic study of this kind, we record our findings in a memorandum or report. The results can be used to inform others of what constitutes good practice and to help us plan our supervisory activities.
Penalties
All supervision, regardless of type, can result in the FMI disciplinary committee taking disciplinary action against the estate agent or the agency, such as issuing a warning.