Registration of real estate or letting agents
As a rule, real estate and letting agents have to register their business in the brokerage business register of the Regional State Administrative Agencies.
What is a brokerage business register?
We maintain a register of real estate and lettings agents. The register is public and anyone has the right to receive information from it.
When You want register information contact us for it. A certificate for information saved in the register is subject to a fee.
Do I need to register my business operations?
As a rule, real estate and letting agents have to enter their details into the brokerage business register maintained by the Regional State Administrative Agencies.
Real estate brokerage and rental apartment brokerage can only be practised by private traders or a legal person that is registered as a brokerage business. This is why before starting their operations, brokerage businesses have to register in the Regional State Administrative Agency of the area in which the brokerage business's management will mainly be operated. A brokerage business can have offices in areas of various Regional State Administrative Agencies.
Several independent brokerages can operate under the same brand name, whose registration location is determined by each administrative place of business.
Preconditions for registration
The preconditions for registering a brokerage business are that
- the notifier has the right to engage in trade in Finland
- the notifier has not been declared bankrupt, and if they are a natural person, they are an adult whose legal competence has not been restricted
- the notifier is trustworthy
- the notifier has sufficient liability insurance
- the notifier has a responsible manager.
Preconditions for registration
If the notifier is a legal person, the requirement of reliability applies to the following persons:
- managing director and deputy managing director
- board member and deputy member
- member and deputy member of the supervisory board
- general partner
- any person who directly or indirectly holds more than 25 per cent of the shares or voting rights
- and other senior management.
The evaluation of reliability includes consideration such as:
- Has the notifier or person repeatedly or substantially neglected to pay taxes or other public contributions?
- Is the notifier or person unable to manage their debts due to foreclosure or other investigations?
- In the three years preceding the evaluation, has the person been sentenced to imprisonment for a crime that can be seen as proof that the person is manifestly unsuitable for practising brokerage operations?
- In the three years preceding the evaluation, has the person received a monetary penalty for a crime that can be seen as proof that the person is manifestly unsuitable for practising brokerage operations?
- Has the person otherwise demonstrated through their previous actions that they are manifestly unsuitable for practising brokerage operations?
You can find more detailed information in the instructions of the notification form for starting new business operations for real estate and rental apartment brokerages. You can find links to the forms and their instructions at the bottom of this page.
An individual can operate as the person in charge of the brokerage business, indicated by the professional qualification of a broker license examination
- if they are a licensed real estate agent for the real estate brokerage business's part
- if the they are a licensed housing rental agent for the rental premises brokerage business's part or a licensed real estate agent.
The responsible manager must also be of age and reliable. They may not be bankrupt and their legal capacity may not be limited.
The person in charge marked in the register has to take care that
- a good way of brokerage is used in the brokerage operations
- the operations are otherwise lawfully conducted
- in the brokerage business's service and in each of its offices at least half of the persons conducting brokerage operations have to have the professional competence of a person in charge
- other persons participating in the brokerage operations have a sufficient professional competence required for the task.
The same person can act as the responsible person only in one agency registered in the agency register at the same time.
The notifying party has to have a sufficient liability insurance of the operations for covering possible property damages. The adequacy of liability insurance is assessed case by case, taking into account the nature and extent of the business operations. The terms of the insurance have to always match the customary insurance practises of the line of business.
The liability insurance of small brokerage businesses for real estates and business premises has to be at least €50,000 and the personal liability a maximum of €1,000. The liability insurance of small brokerage businesses for rental apartments has to be at least €20,000 and the personal liability a maximum of €1,000. For big businesses, the liability insurance has usually been €100,000–€200,000, with the personal liability being a maximum of €2,000–€3,000.
How to register a brokerage business
Read about the requirements for registration, especially the considerations related to reliability, the responsible manager and liability insurance. In addition, familiarize yourself with other regulations and instructions concerning the operations.
After that, submit a notice for registering the brokerage business to the Regional State Administrative Agency of the area in which the brokerage management will mainly be operated. You can make the notice via form or E-services. Attach the consent of the person in charge for the task as well as a copy of the liability insurance documents to the notice.
We will investigate the information for the professional competence, bankruptcy, ban on business operations, guardianship, fine register and criminal records of the person in charge, and we will acquire an extract from the Trade Register.
You can find more detailed information in the instructions of the notification form for starting new business operations for real estate and rental apartment brokerages. You can find links to the forms and their instructions at the bottom of this page.
Immediately notify the Regional State Administrative Agency of changes to the business name, auxiliary business name, brand name, administrative address, offices, form of brokering, responsible manager, responsible persons, liability insurance or the discontinuation of operations.
You have to notify about the change of the person in charge at the latest one month from the previous responsible person's task ending. Please also notify immediately of any change of the persons in charge. Persons in charge include senior management as well as persons who own, either directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the business.
Once we have received the required information, the target processing time for the notification is two weeks.
The registration decision of the brokerage business as well as changes in the register information are subject to a fee. Decision fees for registration notices (new service notices and notices of changes in register information) submitted in the e-service system are cheaper than for notices submitted on paper.
You will find more information about fees on our website Fees and charges.
The Regional State Administrative Agencies will remove the brokerage business if
- the brokerage business has ended their operations
- the brokerage business is not trustworthy
- the brokerage business does not have adequate liability insurance
- the brokerage business does not have a responsible manager who fulfils the preconditions for registration, or the brokerage business has not reported a new responsible manager within the issued deadline
- there are serious or recurring cases of negligence in the brokerage business's or responsible person's operations, and there has been a previous fixed-term ban on operations that has been put in motion.
If the brokerage business has been removed from the register, change can be applied for by filing a complaint to the administrative court.
If the brokerage company has declared bankruptcy, it will stay in the register for six months. The person in charge for the insolvency estate has to immediately inform the Regional State Administrative Agencies that the brokerage business has declared bankruptcy.
Contacts concerning the activities of real estate agencies in writing
If your matter concerns the operations of real estate agencies, please contact the registry of the Regional State Administrative Agency in your company’s locality in writing.