Assistant Agent – Certificate of Registration Extension

 

Back in March 2020, all agents who held a Certificate of Registration were transitioned to the new Assistant Agent – Certificate of Registration and were issued with a new four-year Certificate, which was not renewable.

NSW Fair Trading have now announced for that for the specific group that transitioned in March 2020 and have their Certificate expiring on 22 March 2024 – they are eligible to apply for a one-off, twelve month extension of their Certificate.

To make application for the extension, the Certificate of Registration holder must be enrolled in the Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice qualification or the Certificate IV in Strata Community Management qualification.

For those Certificate of Registration holders who are unable to apply for their Class 2 licence prior to their expiry on 22 March 2024 – you will need to follow some steps:

1. Read the email or SMS that you receive from NSW Fair Trading in relation to the extension process.
2. Access the link provided in the email or SMS. You can only make the application and payment using the online link. There is no paper-based version of the application.
3. You will not be required to provide evidence of your enrolment in the relevant Certificate IV qualification (either the CPP41419 – Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice or the CPP40521 – Certificate IV in Strata Community Management.
4. Once you have completed the online application for extension and paid the $100 fee, you will be issued a confirmation and a copy of your updated certificate by email.
5. Applications for an extension will be processed within 24 hours.

Certificate holders with a certificate expiry date of 22 March 2024 will have 92 days from the date of expiry to apply for the 12-month extension.

You can apply for the 12-month extension as soon as you receive the extension notification from NSW Fair Trading. You must apply online by 22 June 2024.

The twelve month extension of your certificate will commence on 22 March 2024 regardless of when you submit your application. If there any issues with your application, NSW Fair Trading will contact you.

No further extensions will be available. If you continue to work beyond 23 June 2024 without a current certificate you may face fines of up to $11,000. Assistant agents who do not extend their certificate by 23 June 2024 and continue to work without a certificate, face on the spot fines of $1,100 or higher court-issued fines of up to $11,000.

Class 1 licence holders who oversee and manage assistant agents should help them to up-skill before their certificate expires or apply for the twelve month extension. If they are employing someone without this registration, they could face the same court-issued maximum penalty of $11,000.

NSW Fair Trading have been very clear in their advice that this is a once-only extension of the certificate of registration. Once this expires on 22 March 2025, you will not be able to extend the certificate and will be required to wait 12 months to re-apply.

You MUST complete the required training and apply for a class 2 agent licence to continue working in the industry. If you have recently applied for a class 2 agent licence and it’s still being processed, you do not need to complete the application to extend your certificate.

Note: Assistant stock and station agents (livestock only) can already extend their certificates online.

If your application is refused, you will receive a partial refund of your application fee. The processing fee of $46 is non-refundable.

You can continue to work on your current Certificate of Registration until your renewal is processed – but you MUST have made your application for an extension prior to 23 June 2024.

If you are an Assistant Agent and your certificate expires at some point after 22 March 2024, you are still required to make your application for a Class 2 licence prior to the expiry of your Certificate.

Please note that as a certificate holder, it is your responsibility to tell NSW Fair Trading within 14 days if your name, address or other details change.

You can do this by submitting a Notification of Change of Details form at a Service NSW centre, or by email to propertylicensing@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.

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