The nation's embattled real estate agencies face an uphill battle to recover reputations left in tatters after the theft by some unscrupulous agents of millions of dollars from customer deposit accounts and overnight closures that left thousands of employees without pay.
Complaints that property agents have pocketed customer deposits have multiplied in the wake of the headline-grabbing case of Zhong Tian Property Agency president and co-founder Jiang Fei, who disappeared leaving a gaping 170 million yuan hole in the agency's customer accounts, according to some reports.
'The case has definitely hurt the integrity of agents,' said Clement Luk Shing, director and assistant general manager at Centaline (China) Property Consultant's Shanghai office.
On the day Jiang was declared missing in November last year, according to mainland reports, 23 victims went to the local public security bureau claiming losses totalling 26 million yuan.
Weeks later two Shenzhen firms, Chang He Property Agency and Chuanghui Real Estate Consultancy, shut down many of their branches suddenly, which triggered demands by anxious customers for the return of deposits they had left with the branches as security on proposed house purchases.
'Unlike the practice in Hong Kong, having a solicitor represent flat buyers or sellers is not common on the mainland,' Mr Luk said.