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One of the great changes or evolutions that the real estate industry is experiencing is the application of the NOM-247-SE-2021 Standard. This regulation allows and gives certainty to the consumer to have the correct information for the acquisition of a home and much more. The important thing about this initiative is that the Federal Consumer Protection Agency has the tools to better defend consumers. But it is not all plain sailing.
In September 2022, the application of this standard began, which has brought great advantages, but also some complications that were not thought of in the housing development ecosystem. PROFECO has detected some cases of unfair competition, which was not expected at the beginning.
Within the regulation, it is specified that users may exercise the right to denounce developments that do not comply with certain aspects of the regulation, which opened the possibility for the government agency to receive complaints wholesale and even anonymously.
To everyone's surprise, these anonymous complaints or denunciations are being made by the obligated parties themselves, that is to say, the same people belonging to the company, former employees or simply the competition, are denouncing each other.
What about unfair anonymous whistleblowing?
There are two types of complaints: structured complaints, which are those related to the guarantees offered, i.e., those that include delivery dates, quality of materials, false advertising, etc. In this type of procedure, the complainants only document everything and send it by e-mail, regardless of whether it is apocryphal. In this type of procedure, the complainants only document everything and send it by e-mail, regardless of whether the domain is apocryphal, and substantiate the complaint with everything they have collected.
The other type of complaints are anonymous, the modus operandi that PROFECO has identified. These complaints are mainly made from email addresses created for this purpose, arguing that "such address" is presumed not to have the membership mail along with a photograph of the banner or advertisement of the facade plus the address, therefore for the agency proceeds with this type of argument and begins the investigation.
According to the request for information 10030/2023 made to PROFECO through the National Institute of Access to Information (INAI), we found that from September 2022 to January 2023, 281 complaints have been registered, mostly against real estate companies, and only 44 have received a verification visit.
How are inspections for compliance with Nom 247 carried out?
It should be remembered that there are two types of inspections or visits carried out by the Attorney General's Office at the moment of receiving a complaint or prior to it:
- Surveillance visit: It is friendly and the developers are invited to comply with all the points specified in Nom 247, thus making a "check" of all non-compliances and inviting them to comply. It is important to point out that due to lack of operational capacity, this type of visit is not being carried out.
- The Verification Hearing: It is the one that is executed based on punctual complaints and the authority attends with a circumstantial record, the authority can review compliance with all the points of NOM-247 and not only those that were denounced. .
In view of these facts, developers have tried to shield or protect themselves from these actions, however, PROFECO has denied the legal argument being presented by the lawyers, which is based on the impediment to close, suspend or impose fines if the two visits mentioned in the Norm are not complied with.
It is essential to be prepared for any scenario, remember that fines range from 30 to 30 thousand UMAS, which is approximately 384 thousand pesos. According to the information requested, as of January of this year only one sanction has been issued, since the party involved did not have the adhesion contract registered with PROFECO and it was for the maximum amount, $384,880 pesos.
For PROFECO's visit, you must have your contract of adhesion, whether it is a brokerage, purchase and sale, promise, land subdivider, builder, real estate developer or real estate promoter. If you do not have it, it is very easy to process it and it is done online, as well as all the other points required by the NOM.
Avoid fines or any action by PROFECO, comply with NOM 247 by getting expert advice, training your staff and using technological tools that help you to monitor compliance, as does alohome does in its compliance section.
If you want to know how prepared you are in relation to NOM-247 fill out the following questionnaire and find out your level of compliance:
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