RICS expels Dutch member for breaches of code of conduct

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has shown its teeth in Continental Europe by expelling a Dutch member after a disciplinary panel found he was in breach of the rules of conduct.

Continental Europe accounts for some 8,500 of the 91,000 members of the global organisation for property professionals. Aside from the case of Dutchman Denis (Dion) Bartels, the other eight cases in which the disciplinary panel gave various findings so far this year referred to members in the UK.

The disciplinary panel ruled that Bartels, a lawyer by profession, was in breach of rule 8 and rule 9 of the rules of conduct.

The first charge was that Bartels failed to submit information in a timely manner last year about his appeal against the decision by the Dutch Lawyers Disciplinary Board to suspend him from practicing law for an indefinite period, and that he also failed to submit a summary of why his law firm, Bartels Advocaten, had entered into insolvency proceedings. The second complaint was that he failed to co-operate with RICS staff, contrary to rule 9, by not providing the information requested in the first charge.

'The sanction will send a clear message to Mr Bartels, the profession and the public about the way in which such conduct is addressed. The penalty serves the public interest in maintaining confidence in the RICS and it makes clear the standards expected of its members,' the panel added.

Bartels made a name for himself in the Dutch property market by campaigning against alleged cases of malfides among certain real estate funds. On the website for his legal firm, Bartels called on real estate fund investors who felt they had been the victims of fraud to use his services. His campaigning style, often carried out in the media, led to conflicts with real estate companies. This resulted on more than one occasion in court action seeking to get Bartels to withdraw specific allegations.

Last year, the disciplinary panel of the Dutch Lawyers Association suspended Bartels after ruling he had failed to implement recommendations relating to putting his law business on a better financial footing and to be more circumspect in relation to publicity.