LICENSING LAND AGENTS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11992, 10 July 1903, Page 4

LICENSING LAND AGENTS.

The Land Agents Bill, which has been introduced by the Government im tiha Legislative Council, provides for the licensing of land agents. A land agent for the purposes of tfhe Act h defined a& a "person whio sells or attempts to seß or offers- for sala land on commission, otherwise than by auction)." and! after Ist January, 1904, such persona mmst not carry on business without being licensed. Applications for licenses must be made to tihe local authority, wMtih may refuse any such application by a two-thirds majority on the ground tlhat the applicant is not a fit and proper person to receive a license. The license will give the 'holder authority to act as a land agent in any part of New Zealand, and the fact of the license having been grantjed must be advertised by the local authority. The licensee may appoint a substitute undier certain conditions, and on the death or bankruptcy of the hiolder the license may be transferred to any person approved by the local authority on payment of 10s. The Bill also provides that all mloneyg received by a land agent in respect of the sale of land must be applied—'l. In payment of the expenses incidental to the sate. 2. In payment of any moneys owing to the land agent by the person on whose behalf the land1 was soldi. 3. In payment of the balance (ilf any) to such person, or as bja may direct, and until suchi' payment the balance mus* be paid into a bank to a general or separate trust account. Any land agent who qoanimits a breach of thilsi section; is liable to a fine nob exceeding £50. Accounts of sales must be rendei«di wilhin 'fourteeni dayft and the balance paid! over. For wrongful conversion or-the rendering of false accounts a land agent is liable on indicStanent to two v,earsi' hard iHabour. Conviction for a breach of the section providing for the application of > trust inioneyi9 cancels the license. For carrying; on the business of a land1 agent iwthout a license a fine of £50 miay be imposed. License fees are to be paiidl to the local authority.