Lyubomir Tsvetanov
Abstract: The article examines the draft law on intermediary services in real estate transactions submitted to the Parliament of the Republic of Bulgaria at the end of 2023. The main provisions of the law are discussed, such as the emergence of a legal definition of a Real Estate Agency, as well as the criteria set for the creation of such an agency. The status of real estate brokers and real estate agents is explained. The role of the newly established Register of Real Estate Brokers and the Chamber of Real Estate Brokers is discussed. Several imperfections of the law and controversial issues in it are highlighted, including excessive regulation of the activity, prerequisites for reducing competition and limiting access to new market participants, the risk of increasing the price of services, the lack of possibility of judicial control over some of the acts of the Chamber of Real Estate Brokers, and others. The positive changes for the industry that the adoption of the law will lead to were also discussed, such as greater transparency, better guaranteeing the interests of service users, unification of work processes and standardization of contracts, and others.
Key words: real estate agencies; legal regulation; real property; impact on the market.
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