By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Prominent realtor, Bishop Walter Hanchell, yesterday said he will sue the Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) for the “inexcusable” damage done to his business reputation by incorrectly including him among a list of unlicensed realtors.

Bishop Hanchell, in a statement issued to the media, said he was included among 70 realtors alleged not to have paid their annual licence fees - and therefore now unable to practice real estate agents/brokers - when he had, in fact, paid the required fee.

Tribune Business revealed that Bishop Hanchell, president and chief executive at PGF Real Estate, was on the list in an article on July 17, and that BREA was subsequently forced to apologise to him for the error.

Describing himself as “outraged, disappointed and shocked” that BREA’s Board of Directors would “do such a despicable act to its members”, Bishop Hanchell said in his statement: “I have been a member of BREA for 30 years and have always paid my dues.

“I am appalled at the treatment members are receiving. A simple telephone call, e-mail or a friendly reminder to members would be much better than embarrassing them publicly in the media.

“I have received a written apology from Carla Sweeting, president of BREA. The letter states in part: ‘The Board humbly apologizes for any inconvenience and embarrassment you may have experienced’.”

Bishop Hanchell declined to comment further when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday, although this newspaper understands he feels his reputation - and that of his business - has suffered a “very negative impact” already resulting in loss.

“For the record, this apology has not been accepted. Too much damage has already been done,” Bishop Hanchell added in his statement.

“My attorney has advised me to take immediate legal action against the Bahamas Real Estate Association for what they call ‘an oversight’. I have received calls from well-wishers who find it incredible that something like this could happen. I stand with my fellow realtors, who have been affected by this totally unnecessary and insensitive procedure, and wish them the best in rebuilding their businesses.

“These are challenging times and we do not need people representing us who seem to not have the best interest of members at heart. The damage done to my character and business is inexcusable. There will be consequences.”

Ms Sweeting, BREA’s president, did not return Tribune Business phone calls and e-mails before press time last night.

However, Bishop Hanchell was applauded for his action by another broker who appeared on BREA’s non-payment/unlicensed list, George Smith.

The former MP and Cabinet Minister told Tribune Business that he himself was considering consulting an attorney, this time over BREA’s requirements for non-payers to be reinstated, which he alleged were more onerous than those for first-time applicants.

“I commend him,” Mr Smith said of Bishop Hanchell. “I think what he is properly doing is championing the cause of all those people unnecessarily embarrassed.

“He is a man of tremendous goodwill who has done a lot to take care of the least fortunate in this country. It was shocking when they embarrassed him. Drive down Wulff Road every day and you see people gathered outside his Outreach Ministries queuing for food.”

Emphasising that he had dutifully paid his annual fee, set at $400 for a broker and $300 for a sales agent, for 19 years and simply forgot this time, Mr Smith added of his name’s inclusion on the list: “It’s embarrassing.

“I’ve been a number of places, and people have said to me jokingly: ‘George, you should have let me know, I’d have paid it for you’, and ‘George, what happened? Are you one of those not paying your bills’.”

Mr Smith said that while there should be a fee for re-registration with BREA, suggesting $50, he argued that it was enforcing “an erroneous and tedious exercise” for doing so.

He suggested that the re-registration requirements were more than those for initial membership in BREA, disclosing that the Association wanted bank references, personal references, birth certificates, passport photos and other requirements.

“That, on the face of it, is tremendously unreasonable,” Mr Smith told Tribune Business. “It’s a ridiculous, tedious exercise they want to put people through.”

He added that he had written to BREA asking where such requirements were stipulated in law, via the Real Estate Brokers and Salesman’s Act, and warned that he would consult an attorney if not satisfactory response was received “in a reasonable time”.

‘I told them I don’t intend to do it,” Mr Smith told Tribune Business. “I haven’t consulted counsel yet, but I’m not far from it, in terms of determining whether they should be asking you to go through this exercise.”