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 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 28 October 2024. The hearing was held for the disciplinary offences (as mentioned below) committed by 4 licensed PMCs. Having considered all relevant information about the cases and the admission of the allegations by the 4 licensed PMCs, 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 PMC 1

The licensed PMC was involved in 2 allegations which concerned the contravention of one count of the disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO and one count under section 4(c) of the same ordinance. The details are as follows:

(1)    The licensed PMC failed to engage a licensed property management practitioner (PMP) (Tier 1) who has effective control of the provision of property management services as required under section 6(a) of the Property Management Services (Licensing and Related Matters) Regulation (Chapter 626B) (PMSR) during the concerned licensing period. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO.

(2)    The licensed PMC 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 of the PMSR, and schedule 4 to the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a requirement in the PMSO that is applicable to it, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(c) of the PMSO.

The licensed PMC admitted to the said two allegations in the disciplinary hearing. For the first disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand against the licensed PMC. For the second disciplinary offence, the DC made the Order of a verbal warning against the licensed PMC.

Licensed PMC 2

The licensed PMC was involved in 2 allegations which concerned the contravention of one count of the disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO and one count under section 4(c) of the same ordinance. The details are as follows:

(1)    The licensed PMC failed to engage a licensed PMP (Tier 2) during the concerned licensing period and as such, it did not meet the minimum manning ratio as specified by the PMSA as required under section 6(b) of the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO.

(2)    The licensed PMC 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 of the PMSR, and schedule 4 to the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a requirement in the PMSO that is applicable to it, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(c) of the PMSO.

The licensed PMC admitted to the said two allegations in the disciplinary hearing. For the first disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand and imposed a fine of HK$30,000 against the licensed PMC. For the second disciplinary offence, the DC made the Order of a verbal warning against the licensed PMC.

Licensed PMC 3

The licensed PMC was involved in 2 allegations which concerned the contravention of one count of the disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO and one count under section 4(c) of the same ordinance. The details are as follows:

(1)    The licensed PMC failed to engage sufficient licensed PMP (Tier 2) throughout different intervals of the concerned licensing period and as such, it did not meet the minimum manning ratio as specified by the PMSA as required under section 6(b) of the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO.

(2)    During the concerned licensing period, the licensed PMC: (a) managed 13 more properties and one less property; (b) employed a licensed PMP (Tier 2) and subsequently terminated his employment; and (c) one of its employees had obtained PMP (Tier 2) licence, but it failed to notify the PMSA of the above changes within 31 days as required under section 17(1) of the PMSO, section 14 of the PMSR, and schedule 4 to the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a requirement in the PMSO that is applicable to it, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(c) of the PMSO.

The licensed PMC admitted to the said two allegations in the disciplinary hearing. For the first disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand and imposed a fine of HK$90,000 against the licensed PMC. For the second disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand against the licensed PMC.

Licensed PMC 4

The licensed PMC was involved in 2 allegations which concerned the contravention of one count of the disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO and one count under section 4(c) of the same ordinance. The details are as follows:

(1)    The licensed PMC failed to engage sufficient licensed PMP (Tier 1) and/or licensed PMP (Tier 2) throughout different intervals of the concerned licensing period and as such, it did not meet the minimum manning ratio as specified by the PMSA as required under section 6(b) of the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a prescribed condition imposed on its licence by the PMSA pursuant to section 10(b) of the PMSR, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(b) of the PMSO.

(2)    During the concerned licensing period, the licensed PMC: (a) terminated the employment of 4 licensed PMPs (Tier 1); (b) terminated the employment of 3 licensed PMPs (Tier 2) ; (c) 3 of its employees had obtained PMP (Tier 2) licence and one of its employees had obtained PMP (Tier 1) licence; and (d) employed 2 licensed PMPs (Tier 2), but failed to notify the PMSA of the above changes within 31 days as required under section 17(1) of the PMSO, section 14 of the PMSR, and schedule 4 to the PMSR. Thus, the licensed PMC contravened a requirement in the PMSO that is applicable to it, and thereby committed a disciplinary offence under section 4(c) of the PMSO.

The licensed PMC admitted to the said two allegations in the disciplinary hearing. For the first disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand and imposed a fine of HK$15,000 against the licensed PMC. For the second disciplinary offence, the DC issued a written reprimand against the licensed PMC.

Dr James WONG, Chairperson of the PMSA, said, “As the statutory regulatory body of the property management industry, the PMSA deals with all contraventions of disciplinary offences under the PMSO in respect of licensees seriously, and the PMSA has the responsibility to conduct disciplinary hearing in case of contraventions. The PMSA hopes that industry stakeholders are alerted that they have to continuously meet with all the relevant licensing conditions and requirements 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 licensed PMCs.

Ends/Thursday, 12 December 2024
Issued at HKT 12:00​​​​
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