NOM-247 is not a new law but, an old law that is now being reinforced and causing the real estate community to hit the panic button.
We have always understood that real estate is not really regulated in Mexico. Norma Oficial Mexicana 247 is a huge step in making real estate a legitimate operation from start to finish.
Let´s take a closer look at this new law and how it is affecting the business.
What is NOM-247?
NOM-247 is being reinforced to protect the consumer first and foremost. In the past and maybe now there are fake publications about a property for sale. It is easy enough for just about anyone to publish a fake listing in the internet and manage to get a deposit from an innocent consumer. This law will help prevent this from happening by making it clear and illegal for anyone to publish without an actual listing contract being loaded in PROFECO (Mexico´s government version of the Better Business Bureau). A nice touch by the government and something that was way overdue.
The problem with this law?
The problem with this law is that it has stopped the legitimate real estate business in its tracks. AMPI members are the most trusted real estate professionals in Mexico when buying and listing a property. And, while the association knows what it takes to do business the government does not. In other words, the government cannot tell AMPI the correct steps to do AMPI business. Yet, that is what this new law is trying to do in a way. AMPI officials and government officials are working together to ensure everyone is on the same page while being reminded constantly about the obligations of this law.
To meet the obligation required by this new law we must sign up and pay a fee to PROFECO to be able to use one of their listing contracts that are not AMPI friendly or upload our own listing contract. A process that can take months! That is right…months. All while we as agents and agencies try to hold our clients in check.
The government does not care about customer service we provide to our clients. We are the ones who have to answer the calls and explain why a listing is not in flex MLS yet and why a property has not been shown once. AMPI is not allowing new listings to be uploaded unless a listing contract has been uploaded in PROFECO first. That kills our business. Amazingly nobody sees the negative effect of this new law on our business. Amazingly AMPI officials are nonchalant about this.
What will happen with NOM-247?
It looks like we would have to ride this out and wait for the government and AMPI to get this right. I say again, it is a step in the right direction. But, can we account for how much money is being left out there for properties not listed and sold in the zero listings time period. I have seen zero listing only a few times in the last 4 years with 2 times in the past week since this new law was reinforced.
In the end, we will all be ready to take on new listings. Trust us, all legitimate agencies are working hard to get this right. AMPI is working hard to get the word out to all its members. We can look forward to a way of doing business better in Mexico.
