Gazettal of Orders for Four Cases of Disciplinary Hearing held by the
Property Management Services Authority

The Property Management Services Authority (PMSA) will, pursuant to Section 26(3)(b) of the Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626) (PMSO), publish in the Gazette tomorrow notices in respect of the disciplinary orders made against four property management practitioner (PMP) and property management company (PMC) licence holders by the Disciplinary Committee (DC) of the PMSA under Section 26(1) of the PMSO.

The concerned disciplinary hearing was held by the DC on 5 June 2024. The hearing was held for the disciplinary offences (as mentioned below) committed by 1 licensed PMP (Tier 1) and 3 licensed PMCs.  Having considered all relevant information about the cases and the admission of the allegations by the 4 licensees, the DC unanimously ruled that the allegations in respect of the concerned disciplinary offences were substantiated, and in accordance with Section 26(1) of the PMSO, disciplinary orders were made in respect of the offences.  The details are as follows:

Licensed PMP

The disciplinary offence of the Licensed PMP (the licensee) concerned the contravention of Section 4(b) of the PMSO whereby the licensee contravened a condition imposed on the PMP (Tier 1) licence, which requires the licensee to continue meeting the prescribed criteria for holding the licence pursuant to Section 7(1) of the Property Management Services (Licensing and Related Matters) Regulation (Cap. 626B) (PMSR).  According to Section 7(1)(b)(i) of the PMSR, the prescribed criteria that a PMP (Tier 1) licence holder must meet include being a member of a professional body recognized by the PMSA.

The licensee did not possess a valid membership of a PMSA recognized professional body during the concerned licensing period, and thus failed to meet the respective prescribed criteria.  Therefore, the licensee contravened the condition imposed on the licence by the PMSA pursuant to Section 11(b)(i) of the PMSR, and thereby contravened the disciplinary offence under Section 4(b) of the PMSO.
The licensee admitted the abovementioned allegation in the disciplinary hearing.  In respect of the said disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand and imposed a fine of HK$5,750 against the licensee.

Licensed PMC 1

The licensed PMC (the licensee) was involved in seven counts of the disciplinary offence under Section 4(e) of the PMSO, as it was convicted by the court of seven counts of the offence of “failing to give notice of change in the particulars registered in the register of corporations maintained by Land Registrar in the specified form as the Land Registrar may specify” under Sections 12(3) and 28(6A) of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) (BMO) (and was fined a total of HK$8,400 by the court) during the time it held its licence.  Thus, the licensee has contravened a requirement in the BMO that is applicable to it as the secretary of the management committee of an owners’ incorporation of a property, and thereby committed seven counts of the disciplinary offence under Section 4(e) of the PMSO.

The licensee admitted the abovementioned seven allegations in the disciplinary hearing.  In respect of the said seven disciplinary offences, the DC issued severe written reprimands against the licensee for each of the seven allegations (i.e. a total of 7 severe written reprimands).

Licensed PMC 2

The disciplinary offence of the licensed PMC (the licensee) concerned contravention of Section 4(b) of the PMSO.  The licensee failed to engage a licensed PMP (Tier 1) who has effective control of the provision of property management services as required under Section 6(a) of the PMSR during the concerned licensing period.  Thus, the licensee contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to Section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby contravened the disciplinary offence under Section 4(b) of the PMSO.

The licensee admitted the abovementioned allegation in the disciplinary hearing.  In respect of the said disciplinary offence, the DC made the Order of written reprimand against the licensee.

Licensed PMC 3

The licensed PMC (the licensee) was involved in 4 allegations which concerned the contravention of two counts of the disciplinary offence under Section 4(b) of the PMSO and two counts under Section 4(c) of the same ordinance.  The details are as follows:
　　(1)        The licensee failed to engage a licensed PMP (Tier 1) who has effective control of the provision of property management services as required under Section 6(a) of the PMSR during the concerned licensing period.  Thus, the licensee contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to Section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby contravened the disciplinary offence under Section 4(b) of the PMSO.
　　(2)        The licensee failed to engage a licensed PMP (Tier 2) during the concerned licensing period and as such, it failed to meet the minimum manning ratio as specified by the PMSA as required under Section 6(b) of the PMSR.  Thus, the licensee contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to Section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby contravened the disciplinary offence under Section 4(b) of the PMSO.
　　(3)         The licensee terminated the employment of a licensed PMP (Tier 2), but failed to notify the PMSA of the change within 31 days as required under Section 17(1) of the PMSO, Section 14 and Schedule 4 to the PMSR.  Thus, the licensee contravened a requirement in the PMSO that is applicable to it, and thereby contravened the disciplinary offence under Section 4(c) of the PMSO.
　　(4)        The licensee terminated the employment of a licensed PMP (Tier 1), but failed to notify the PMSA of the change within 31 days as required under Section 17(1) of the PMSO, Section 14 and Schedule 4 to the PMSR.  Thus, the licensee contravened a requirement in the PMSO that is applicable to it, and thereby contravened the disciplinary offence under Section 4(c) of the PMSO.

The licensee admitted the said four allegations in the disciplinary hearing.  For the first two disciplinary offences, the DC issued written reprimands and imposed a total fine of HK$30,000 against the licensee.  For the 3rd and 4th disciplinary offences, the DC made the Orders of verbal warning against the licensee.

The Chairperson of the PMSA, Dr James WONG said, “As the statutory regulatory body of the property management industry, the PMSA deals with all contraventions of disciplinary offences under the PMSO by licensees seriously.  The PMSA has the responsibility to conduct disciplinary hearing in case of contraventions.  This is also the first time for the PMSA to impose fines in a disciplinary hearing for contraventions of disciplinary offences under the PMSO.  Industry stakeholders should be alerted that they have to continuously meet all relevant licensing conditions throughout the licensing period so as to avoid committing any disciplinary offence.”

The register of licensees on the PMSA website (https://pmsa.org.hk/en/licensing-regime/registers-of-licensees/) has also set out the information of the disciplinary offences in respect of the four licensees.

​​​​​​​Ends/Thursday, 8 August 2024
Issued at HKT 12:00 ​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​NNNN