The number of complaints about estate agents has fallen slightly year on year. The Estate Agent Authority (EAA), the industry's regulator, reported that complaints had dropped to 772 cases in the year ended March 2004 from 823 cases the previous year. Under the existing regime, rule breakers in the estate agent industry could face a maximum penality of $500,000 and two years' imprisonment. Conduct and practice remained the top concern among the complaints filed with the EAA. In one case, two estate agents had their licences suspended by the EAA for fighting in a public place at a property sale site. Both agents were later arrested by the police and charged with assault. In another case investigated by the regulator, a salesperson lured a potential buyer into signing up for a new flat through his company by offering furniture coupons instead of the usual cash rebate. However, he did not explain to the buyer that the coupons of $500 all carried a redemption condition - for every coupon redeemed the purchaser had to buy at least $3,000 worth of furniture. Had the buyer known the condition, he would not have bought the flat through that salesperson. The EAA gave a warning to the salesperson. 'Among 18,000 agents, it is difficult to avoid market misconduct ... even lawyers engage in dirty deals,' said Property Agencies Association chairman Kwok Tak-leung. But Mr Kwok said agents' integrity and conduct have been improving since the establishment of the EAA. But not all industry players agree. 'The regulator should beef up the integrity and conduct-related issues instead of putting too much emphasis on academic qualifications,' said Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association chairman Cheung Tin-sung.