An estate agent used my ID to buy a house for a client without my consent. Please help!

The long answer

To be clear from the start: Lawful Living says that it is a criminal offence to

• to use the ID of another person as your own; 

• to present the ID of some person as that of another;

• to allow an ID card to come into the possession of someone else for an unlawful purpose.

You may have given your ID to your estate agent relative when buying a property for yourself. This is because estate agents in South Africa are required by law to request and hold information like your ID under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), which is the main anti-money laundering and financial counter-terrorism law. FICA ensures that both buyers and sellers are who they claim to be and that the funds being exchanged are lawful. 

In a March 2025 article, Property24 explains that under FICA, estate agents must request:

• proof of identity – a certified copy of your South African ID or a passport

• proof of address – municipal bills (less than three months old) or a lease agreement to confirm your residential address

• tax number - proof that you are registered with SARS

• source of funds - this could include recent payslips, bank statements, tax returns etc. to show how you intend to conclude the transaction and pay for the property

• banking account number - confirmation of the parties’ bank account numbers.

All of this is highly sensitive information, and so the relationship between estate agent and client must be one of trust. Estate agents are legally required to ensure your privacy is protected by securely storing your data and only using it for the purpose you agreed to. 

Under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), which came into effect on 1 July 2021, agents cannot share a client’s personal information without the client’s written approval. Agents cannot use a client’s personal information (like an ID) for any purpose other than the one for which it was given. Misusing it for another transaction is a direct breach of these POPIA regulations.

To use a relative’s ID without consent to buy a property for another client constitutes both identity theft and fraud. This is serious criminal and professional misconduct. The agent could face prison time, very large fines, and permanent disqualification from the industry. The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) could withdraw the agent's Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC), effectively banning them from operating.

The law says that “fraud unravels all’, meaning that a court could order the cancellation of the sale in which your ID was fraudulently used.

So these are the actions you could take:

• Report the agent’s misconduct to the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA)

• Open a criminal case at your local police station for identity theft and fraud

Simon Dippenaaar & Associates in an article called “Puzzling out the Property Practitioner’s Act” explain that the PPRA came into effect in February 2022 to offer consumers greater protection in the property market and stop abuses. The Act created the Board of Authority, which manages the day-to-day activities of the PPRA and ensures enforcement of the PPRA’s rules. 

Simon Dippenaar & Associates say that a complaint against an estate agent (now called a Property Practitioner (a PP)) can be made in writing to the PPRA through its website at www.theppra.org. You can download the form to lodge a complaint. The Board of Authority will investigate the complaint, and if found guilty, the PP may be subject to sanctions, and for more serious transgressions, a PP could face a fine and/or a prison sentence of up to 10 years. 

The online complaint form consists of three components, namely:  
Stage 1: General guidelines for initiating the online complaint.
Stage 2: The electronic completion of the online complaint form.
Stage 3: Submitting the complaint form

The complaints procedure could take up to three months to settle, and on their website the PPRA says that “It is important to note that, in pursuance of the audi alteram partem (or ‘let the other side be heard’) principle, no person may be judged without having first been given the opportunity of responding either to any allegations that have been made against them or to any evidence that may be adduced. A copy of the founding complaint form will, accordingly, be sent by the PPRA to the respondent estate property practitioner for comment.”

These are the PPRA’s contact details:

• Email: eab@theppra.org.za

• Contact number: 087 285 3222

Wishing you the best,
Athalie