# Immopi Agents?



## christopherdouglas (Nov 13, 2008)

Hi All,
Can anyone tell us (of course someone will) what status an Immopi Registered Estate Agent has?
We check for AMI Registration but this is a new one to us.
Cheers,
Chris


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## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

immopi is the old name for what is now inci, inci are the governing body for amongst other things builders and estate agents, 
estate agents will be given a ami number which is the id number for their license.

you can check to see if an estate agent is legal on the inci website, see the link below on how to check them out.
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/po...living-portugal/17054-tips-home-buyers-2.html

if you see an agent that has no ami number then they are probably working illegally. its allways best to ask the agent for their number so you can check to see if they have a license and are not suspended etc.

if the company has no ami number or they give you a false one then be careful dealing with them.

Some companies that advertise property dont have or need an ami number, these companies are only advertising and are not estate agents, there is nothing wrong or illegal with this type of company, unless they show you the house and mediate for you then they are breaking the law, they can only advertise property.

normally if it is an advertising company, you will be put intouch directly with the owners or the agent representing the owner.


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## christopherdouglas (Nov 13, 2008)

Wonderful Derek, thank you.
In the case of advertising company's, I assume, from what you and others have said in the past, that being put in touch with an owner direct can be a bit dangerous legally.
We have been shown property by unlicensed agents (advertisers) and throughout they do state that it is the owner that you would be dealing with.
Not being anywhere near fluent enough to enter into legal proceedings, I think we would have to rely too much on a solicitor being up to the job with the finer points of the deeds (boundary's, land classification, debts against the property - and all the things you and others have said to look out for!).
The registered agents that we have been out with did seem to have done their homework on the property first.
(Incidentally, can't remember where we saw them but, we were very impressed with your before & after photos. Everytime someone in the UK says 'you must be mad' we look at what others have done and think 'no, it's you that's mad to want to stay here')
Regards,
Chris


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## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

christopherdouglas said:


> Wonderful Derek, thank you.
> In the case of advertising company's, I assume, from what you and others have said in the past, that being put in touch with an owner direct can be a bit dangerous legally.
> We have been shown property by unlicensed agents (advertisers) and throughout they do state that it is the owner that you would be dealing with.
> Not being anywhere near fluent enough to enter into legal proceedings, I think we would have to rely too much on a solicitor being up to the job with the finer points of the deeds (boundary's, land classification, debts against the property - and all the things you and others have said to look out for!).
> ...



Hi Chris,
Just to clarify a little with an example,

*An advertiser*
an advertiser is legallly allowed to advertise property in Portugal, normally this is done through a website, you will see the property pictures and details all there on the site. If you request more info, they are allowed to send you more info on the property, what they are not allowed to do, is meet you and show you the property, disscuss anything to do with the purchase, receive and pass on offers. deal with or arrange any paperwork, arrange or advice on finance. in short all they can do is sell advertising space. but even to do this, if they receive payment in Portugal they have to be registered here with the finances as a publisher,advertiser etc. 
normally they will get paid if the property sells a % or they will charge a flat rate to list property on their site.
They should somewhere on their site state that they are not an inci registered estate agent and hold no license to sell property, only to advertise.

when you enquire to one of these advertising companies/websites, they should forward your enquiry straight to the person that placed the advert, the owner, an estate agent, etc.

because these companies are just advertising, they have no control over the property that is placed with them and who places the advert, the property could be illegal, the person placing the advert could be working illegally, etc, or there could be nothing wrong at all and its just a genuine advert for a house. the danger is that you dont know who is behind the advert.

some advertising companies, will work outside the law and do all of the above mentioned stuff that they are not allowed to do, meet you, show the property, show you the paperwork, take offers, etc, this is illegal if they do this as they are acting as agents but hold no license to do it.

The best and in my opinion only advertising companies to use, are the ones that have the details of the agent, owner advertising clearly displayed on the advert and forward your enquiry straight to the owner or agent. that way you do get to buy through a registered agent so you are protected if there are any problems, or straight from the owner in a private sale. some advertisers will state on the advert if it is a registered agent or a private seller that has placed the advert, this is good too.

*An illegal agent*
These people can appear to be an advertiser or an agent, they look and may indeed tell you that they are an agent, but they hold no license, have no ami number and are not registered with inci, (all estate agents in portugal have to be registered with inci) they operate outside the law, they will have a website, maybe even an office, they will advertise property, show you property, handle all the details of the sale, etc etc, but they are working illegaly. as soon as they get involved in showing you a property they are an illegal agent. (instead of an advertiser) because they are not registered, they will not have insurance, incase things go wrong, they can not register the sale at the notary, because they are not agents, they will encourage you to pay part of the purchase in cash, they may even, unknown to you underdeclare the value,(which is illegal, tax evasion) etc etc, in short you can end up with lots of problems. many many people in portugal have had serious problems from dealing with illegal agents, some have lost money. estate agents in portugal are not allowed to receive deposits or payments for property, it must go to the owner directly or through your lawyer to the owner, if someone asks you to pay the deposit directly to them, or into their account, this is illegal and alarm bells should be ringing!

*How to know who is who.*

*A INCI Agent*
A proper inci registered legal agent, will have an id card from inci, (ask to see it)they will have a registered office, they will have their license number from inci displayed in their office, they will have their ami number on every piece of advertising material they have, shop window display and signage, business cards, website, property for sale signs, side of car, everywhere, its a legal requirement. so it makes it very easy for someone to indentify a proper agent. they will have their liability insurance certificate displayed in their office, which along with their ami number can be checked and compared on line at the inci website.

*An Advertiser*
will have no ami number, should tell you they are not an agent and should direct your enquiry straight through to the agent or owner. they should not meet you and try to sell you a house.

*An illegal agent*
will not have a inci id card, will not have a ami number, probably will not have an office, they will ask to meet you at a cafe, petrol station etc, may not have all the paperwork available for the house. they may tell you that they are legal and registered but ask for id and ami number, they will not have it!


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## PETERFC (Apr 3, 2009)

*Reply*

Hi Derek and all

At no point is the information ever posted so that the information can be viewed in English. Most people who post on here and other Forums look at sites in Portugal and are lost unless the site has an English version. Is it possible to have the information to run through from start to finish to complete a post so that others can view the English Translation.

Peter the 666 man


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## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

Hi Peter, not quite sure what you mean, could you just explain again please.


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## PETERFC (Apr 3, 2009)

*Reply*

Hi Derek

Sorry for not being to clear.

I would like to do a post showing the steps to finding how to access in English a website that is not an English website.

Often a question comes up about about AMI agents and the replies are always to look on INCI. 

That's ok for those who can read the Portuguese version. 

I have posted before how to use Google to get a translated version of a website that is not in English. 

What i would like to do is a walk through of how to find INCI in English.
The steps to find the information that is required by the person asking about the AMI agents and the Ami number etc. 
I am sure it would help those who need to be assured that the agent they find is legal. 

Hope that is a bit more clear no Forum has yet provided the information for posters to find the information about the INCI website because nobody has bothered before.

Peter


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## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

Peter, i think you will find thatthis forum did go to the bother of creating information on the inci website and how to use it,
I posted it here quite a while back.
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/po...living-portugal/17054-tips-home-buyers-2.html

it gives the correct link as well as how to use the search menus, although they are in Portuguese, you do not need to read the Portuguese to use the site to check, ami numbers, find agents, check agents insurance etc etc.


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## PETERFC (Apr 3, 2009)

*Oops*

Hi Derek

After reading so much on various Forums i did not bother to read you Topic at the top of the page. Part was the AMI check but also the way to find and use websites in English. Not everybody knows how to search Google and to find a site and to be able to view it in English.

All to often posters leave links in good faith but the site is US because their is no English version. 

My aim really is just to provide the how to for those who wish to get information that was before out of reach due to no English versions.

Peter


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## omostra06 (Sep 11, 2007)

You are right there is a need for information to be available to people in English, this was something that was hard to find a few years back.

now thanks to well established sites like Pureportugal, Gekkoportugal, etc
There are thousands of pages of information available, in English that covers a very wide range of topics, not just property related, but all aspects of relocating to Portugal. 

So for most people rather than trying to translate pages from lots of different Portuguese sites they will visit some of the very well known information websites covering Portugal, that are in English, where all the upto date information is available free of charge.

so these days its easy to access good quality information on Portugal, because some people have worked for several years putting together information for others to use, 

So i think that the good info on forums like this and the info on information sites should give more than enough info for people to use and read, without to much trouble.


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