If the person turns out to be unlicensed, does that automatically mean I owe nothing?

Not automatically, but it's a genuinely strong starting point for a defence. If the person had no licence at the time your deal was facilitated, they have no proper legal basis to claim commission as an estate agent, since acting in that capacity itself falls within a criminal offence. But the actual outcome still depends on whether some other kind of arrangement exists between you (a plain introduction fee, a private understanding) — this can get complicated, and it's worth getting help assessing your specific documents and messages.

I've only just discovered the person was unlicensed, but I already paid — can I still get the money back?

It's worth pursuing, but be mindful of time limits — money claims generally have a limitation period, and the longer you wait, the harder recovery becomes as evidence (WhatsApp records, contact details) grows stale. Once you spot the problem, preserve everything relevant first — receipts, transfer records, screenshots of conversations — before deciding your next step.

The licence directory doesn't show the person's name at all — does that definitely mean they're unlicensed?

A no-result usually means the person doesn't appear on the current list of valid licensees, but it's worth double-checking for typos in the name or business you entered, or whether the person goes by a different commonly used name. If you genuinely can't find them at all, and you have records of them approaching you as an "agent," that combination is itself worth following up — including reporting it to the EAA.

If I report this to the EAA, does that mean I don't need to go to the Tribunal myself?

No. Reporting to the EAA deals with the regulatory question — whether this person was practising without a licence. The EAA won't recover money you've already paid on your behalf, and has no power to rule that you don't owe money. Your own money claim, or your own defence, still needs to be pursued separately through the Small Claims Tribunal or another appropriate route — the two need to be followed up independently.

Estate Agency Disputes8 min

Was Your Estate Agent Actually Unlicensed? Do You Still Owe Commission?

EasyDebt Editorial

A cardboard-style man sitting at a kitchen table holding a phone and looking at it thoughtfully, a completely blank letter on the table in front of him, a green paper-craft lion sitting on a low stool beside him watching the phone

A friend-of-a-friend introduction, a former salesperson picking up business after leaving their agency, someone who simply says they "know a lot of people in the market" — plenty of Hong Kong property deals get done through people with no formal agency backing at all. The deal closes, some time passes, and a demand letter arrives: the person says the deal was theirs to claim commission on. Something feels off, so you look their name up — and discover they don't hold a licence at all, or don't even show up in the Estate Agents Authority's records.

This is a fundamentally different situation from an ordinary dispute where "the agent is licensed, but the commission amount or calculation is disputed." This article covers: what unlicensed estate agency practice actually is under Hong Kong law, how to verify a licence before signing anything or paying anything (or even after a demand letter arrives), why a licence lapsing between your deal and the demand creates a timeline problem worth checking carefully, and the routes actually available once you've verified. If your situation is "the agent was licensed, but we disagree on the commission itself," see Hong Kong Estate Agency Commission Disputes: Can You Refuse to Pay? instead — this article is specifically about a problem with the agent's own status.

Key takeaways

Someone chasing you for commission as an "agent" — but you suspect they weren't actually licensed when your deal was done. This isn't an ordinary commission dispute; the first step is verifying their status through the Estate Agents Authority's public licence directory before deciding how to respond or which route to take.

Carrying on estate agency business, or acting as a salesperson, without a licence is a criminal offence in Hong Kong — a different question from whether a commission amount itself is disputed
The Estate Agents Authority runs a free public licence directory searchable by licence number, name or business name — check it before signing anything or paying anything
A licence can be suspended or cancelled between your deal and the demand letter arriving, so 'unlicensed now' doesn't automatically prove 'unlicensed at the time' — the timeline needs checking point by point
Suspected unlicensed practice can be reported to the EAA — that's a separate regulatory matter from recovering your own money, and usually needs to be pursued separately
Once verified, if the disputed amount is HK$75,000 or under, the Small Claims Tribunal handles both a claim to get money back and a defence against being sued

Have you actually verified the "agent" chasing you is licensed

Getting a commission demand letter, most people's first instinct is to think about whether the amount is fair — skipping straight past a more basic question: whether the person had any standing to make this claim at all when your deal was done.

That step matters because "estate agent" isn't a title anyone in Hong Kong can simply claim for themselves — it's a licensed profession regulated under the Estate Agents Ordinance (Cap. 511). Whether someone had standing to facilitate your deal as a licensed agent or salesperson directly affects whether they have any contractual basis to claim commission from you at all. So before you think about the amount, the calculation, or the other side's tone, verifying who you're actually dealing with should come first.

A cardboard-style woman at a desk, pointing to a completely blank computer screen, a green paper-craft lion sitting on the desk watching the screen — A demand letter is a reason to verify licence status first, not to think about the amount first.

Unlicensed estate agency practice is a criminal offence in Hong Kong

Many people assume "unlicensed" is purely a matter of professionalism or trust. It's more serious than that. According to the Estate Agents Authority's own published guidance, except where the Estate Agents Ordinance provides an exemption, anyone carrying on the business of estate agency work in Hong Kong must hold a valid estate agent's licence, and anyone acting as a salesperson must also hold a valid licence — in other words, this requirement isn't limited to whoever technically "owns" the agency; it covers anyone acting in that capacity, including the individual who dealt with you directly.

And the requirement isn't merely administrative. The EAA states plainly that carrying on estate agency work without a valid licence is a criminal offence, and on conviction the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of HK$500,000. A penalty of that severity reflects how seriously Hong Kong law treats unlicensed practice as a genuine consumer-protection issue, not simply an internal industry compliance gap.

The practical takeaway: if the person who facilitated your deal had no licence at the time, whatever "commission agreement" you believe exists between you is itself open to real doubt — you're not just facing a question of "is the amount right," but the more fundamental question of whether the other side had any standing to make this claim in the first place.

How to check — the EAA's public licence directory

The good news is that verifying someone's status doesn't require taking their word for it, and doesn't require a lawyer. The Estate Agents Authority runs a public licence directory on its website, where anyone can search by licence number, licensee name, or business name to confirm whether a person currently holds a valid licence and see the licence details — the tool is free and requires no account.

In practice, if you have the person's business card, a WhatsApp message, or an email signature, it will usually include the name or agency they've claimed, and entering that into the licence directory gives you a preliminary check of their current status. The best time to do this is before you sign anything or hand over any deposit or commission — once money has changed hands and paperwork is signed, discovering afterward that the person had no licence is a much harder problem to unwind. If you're only just starting to deal with an intermediary now, it's worth spending a few minutes on this check before signing anything at all.

A cardboard-style man sitting on a sofa holding a completely blank sheet of paper and a phone, a green paper-craft lion sitting on the sofa beside him, a paper-craft Hong Kong skyline visible through the window — The licence directory is free and needs no registration — check it before signing anything.

"Unlicensed now" versus "unlicensed at the time" — checking the timeline

This is the point readers most often overlook, and in practice the hardest one to pin down: the licence directory reflects a person's current status, but what you actually need to verify is whether they were licensed at the time your deal was done. A licence can be suspended, cancelled, or simply lapse for non-renewal between those two dates — so finding "no licence now" doesn't automatically prove "no licence at the time," and equally, "licensed now" doesn't prove they were licensed back then either.

In practice, it's worth checking, point by point: the approximate date your deal was facilitated (the viewing, the signing, the handover period), your communication records with the person from around that time (WhatsApp, email — do they reveal which agency they claimed to represent then), and their current status in the licence directory along with, if it's shown, the licence's validity period or cancellation date. If the person genuinely was licensed at the time and only lost their licence afterward, that meaningfully changes the strength of your position — worth assessing honestly rather than assuming "unlicensed now" automatically means you owe nothing.

Two different routes once you've verified — an EAA report and recovering your money

Once you've verified both the person's status and the timeline, you're generally looking at two separate things that people commonly conflate — but they need to be handled separately.

First, reporting suspected unlicensed practice to the EAA. Anyone can lodge a complaint with the Estate Agents Authority in writing, in person, or by phone. This step asks the regulator to follow up on a regulatory matter — whether this person was practising without a licence — which is separate from what happens to your own money. Whatever the EAA's investigation concludes, it won't automatically recover money you've already paid, or automatically release you from a demand for payment.

Second, actually recovering your own money, or preparing your own defence. This is the step that deals with your money directly. If you've already paid a "commission" to someone who turns out to have been unlicensed, you may have grounds to recover that payment; if you're the one being pursued and have reason to believe the person was unlicensed at the time, that's also a defence worth raising in your response to the demand letter. For a disputed amount of HK$75,000 or under, you can pursue this through the Small Claims Tribunal. Filing fees run in four bands: $20 up to $5,000, $40 up to $25,000, $70 up to $50,000, and $120 up to $75,000 — the process generally doesn't require legal representation. For the actual filing steps, see How to Fill In a Small Claims Tribunal Claim Form.

To see what actually decides an estate agency money dispute once it reaches the Tribunal — particularly how a clear timeline and documentation become the deciding factors — our agency commission case walks through a different fact pattern (a licensed agent, a landlord who denied signing the agreement), but the same lesson applies here: a clear timeline backed by documentation is the most practical tool in an unlicensed-agent dispute too. If you'd like help assessing whether a dispute like this is worth pursuing, or preparing your documents and timeline, our filing support service covers exactly that; estate agency disputes also sit within our agency commission case type.

FAQ

EasyDebt is not a law firm. This article is for general procedural information only and does not constitute legal advice; individual cases are subject to Hong Kong law and the relevant body's determination.

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