The president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) has decried the "frustrating" lack of response from the government regarding a proposed overhaul of two Canadian-owned banks' appraisal systems.
BREA President Carla Sweeting confirmed that the conflict between BREA and Nationwide Appraisal Services (NAS), a Canadian company specializing in real estate valuations, had still not been resolved.
"We've heard nothing, not a word. Not even a, 'we're still working on it'. We don't know where the government stands - we don't know anything. It's so frustrating that nobody will [notify] us," said Sweeting, noting that BREA had received no feedback from the government since July 3.
Sweeting's comments came amid silence from both the government, RBC and Scotiabank, the two banks that had initially called on appraisers to sign up with NAS.
"I'm assuming that it's all just all gone away because we've not heard anything. We're not getting any pressure from the banks. We're not getting any phone calls or messages from the banks.
"We met well over a month ago, and two weeks ago our attorney wrote them again, and we've still heard nothing," said Sweeting, confirming that BREA would decide whether to press the issue further or wait for a response from the government during a board meeting next week.
Representatives form Scotiabank and RBC had argued that implementing the NAS system would improve the quality of appraisals. They had raised concerns of inexperienced appraisers in the country.
BREA had earlier expressed concern over NAS' status in The Bahamas, arguing that the company violated the Real Estate Act (REA), which states that all parties practicing in the real estate industry must be either Bahamians or permanent residents with work permits.
"Our legal opinion is that they would be in contravention of the Real Estate Act if NAS operates according to their latest agreement. Their attorney's opinion is that they wouldn't, but that's why we've presented our findings to the government and the [Attorney General's] office, for them to give their opinion as to whether we are correct or not.
"We can't find the specifics of what their business license says, but we do know that the permission from the government given to NAS was to operate financial software... it had nothing to do with real estate whatsoever or appraisal services," stated Sweeting.
Minister of State for Investments Khaalis Rolle confirmed that the government plans to respond shortly.
"We just got the opinion from the AG's office, which we are currently reviewing. We'll be in a position to respond on Monday," stated Rolle on Friday.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian