Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday called on the Legislative Yuan to reconsider an amendment to the Land Administration Agent Act (地政士法), which was enacted on Jan. 3, citing concerns about how it would affect the registration system of actual prices of real estate.
The registry — which enters the actual property selling price, rather than the asking price, onto the Ministry of the Interior’s Web site — was implemented in August 2012 in an effort to combat rising real-estate prices.
According to current regulations, land administration agents should register real-estate transaction details within 30 days of the exchange of ownership.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The Jan. 3 amendment stated that agents would only be fined if they quote the wrong transaction price or delay their quotes and do not rectify their mistake after notification.
After the amendment, the act gave one to two weeks for agents to register correct prices or to post delayed registrations on the system before they are fined between NT$30,000 and NT$150,000, which Jiang said could give rise to the falsification of prices and cause investors to speculate on real estate based on those prices.
With more than 90 percent of the registration of real-estate transactions handled by land administration agents, the leniency offered by the Jan. 3 amendment could adversely affect the system, Jiang said.
The premier said the government has limited manpower and cannot check the 500,000 real-estate transactions per year on an individual basis.
The amendment may result in an increase in delayed quotes, hamstring the speed of transaction rate information and pose a detriment to buyers relying on the system for correct and up-to-date information, Jiang said.
Commenting on the Executive Yuan’s sudden opposition to the amendment, Jiang said the Executive Yuan maintained its opposition to the amendment and has insisted that the registry system be maintained.
However, the opinion of the Executive Yuan had not been taken into consideration by the legislature, which led to the passing of the amendment, Jiang said.
The Executive Yuan was unaware that there were second and third readings in the Legislative Yuan, Jiang said, adding that both bodies should work together to increase communication and avoid similar incidents.
When asked by reporters whether the Executive Yuan’s motion to repeal the amendment was necessary since only seven cases of falsified registrations had come to light, Jiang said the act prior to amendment was largely responsible for that.
Relaxed regulations increase the moral risks as agents or real-estate companies could become complacent or even purposefully falsify prices, Jiang said, adding that there must be precautions in place.
Meanwhile, the premier dismissed suggestions that the proposal had nothing to do with a possible reshuffle of the Cabinet targeting Minister of the Interior Lee Hung-yuan (李鴻源), saying that he was not holding Cabinet members responsible.
Lee was asked by reporters about being sidelined by the premier in the handling the matter and whether he was worried what the premier thought of him, but he said he was unaware of being overlooked and was not in the slightest bit worried.
Lee said that the ministry and the Executive Yuan understood each other perfectly and that it was regrettable that the Legislative Yuan had not taken the ministry’s suggestions into consideration.
He added that the ministry would seek to be more involved in future legislative bills.
Additional reporting by Chiu Yen-ling
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique