The Ontario government is updating the province’s real estate rules for the first time in nearly 20 years in a move it says improves consumer protection and gives the real estate industry regulator more latitude to immediately sanction or fine agents and brokers who violate the profession’s ethics and regulations.The 2002 Real Estate Business Brokers Act (REBBA) is being renamed The Trust in Real Estate Services Act. The bill will provide homebuyers and sellers with more information and more choices, said Government and Consumer Services Minister Lisa Thompson.“The real estate market in Ontario, and quite frankly across Canada, has seen enormous changes since the act was first passed 20 years ago,” she said. “Economically real estate is booming. Between 2005 and 2015, the total value of all residential properties more than doubled in Ontario.”“This will make Ontario a leader again when it comes to having faith in your real estate professional,” said Tim Hudak, CEO of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).Under the revamped legislation, home sellers would have the option of disclosing competing offers in a multiple buyer situation.The current rules require selling agents to tell all potential purchasers how many offers have been submitted for a property but they cannot disclose the monetary or other conditions of those offers.“Down the road we want to allow at the sellers’ discretion, not the brokerage’s discretion, we want people to know how much those offers are if they see it as beneficial to them,” said Joe Richer, registrar of the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), which regulates agents and brokerages.“The reality is that may benefit some sellers. But many may say I like the process the way it is,” he said. The government is also changing the language around transactions where the buyer and seller is represented by the same brokerage — a practice commonly call ...
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