Public articles
Agency delegating the opening and maintaining of a trust account to another agency: What does it involve?
An agency may delegate to only one other agency the opening and maintaining of a trust account. The agency delegating this responsibility is not required to open its own trust account. The agency entrusted with this responsibility, for its part, must use a single account to manage both its own deposits and those of the delegating agency.
Adding homeowners’ phone numbers to the National DNCL without their consent is against the law
In September 2008 the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) introduced a comprehensive framework governing unsolicited telecommunications.
Existing inspection report: What is the proper procedure for the real estate broker?
The Regulation respecting brokerage requirements, professional conduct of brokers and advertising (hereafter “the Regulation”) states that a broker or agency executive officer must take steps, in accordance with accepted practice, to learn of any factors that may adversely affect the party represented by them or the agency for which they act, the parties to the transaction or the very object of the transaction.
Avoid getting mixed up in a fraudulent real estate flip
A flip is a scheme that real estate brokers must be aware of and avoid. This manoeuvre has been a source of great concern to the OACIQ in recent years. It consists in the quick and successive sale of the same property with a substantial and unjustified price hike.
Telephone solicitation rules
All real estate agencies and brokers who canvass using unverified telephone lists are subject to CRTC Rules.
“Sold” property: Are you allowed to disclose the information?”
Newspapers often include real estate features in their pages. For content, some journalists turn to real estate agencies and brokers asking for detailed description sheets of sold properties for which the deed of sale has been notarized. A photograph and the selling price of the property are published. In cases such as these, it is important to remember that a licence holder may not do any advertising without being expressly authorized to do so in writing.(1) In addition, he must respect the confidentiality of all personal information collected in the course of his activities.(2)
“Lake access rights”: Are you really sure?
It is not unusual, especially in cottage country, for a seller to claim that he has a ''right-of-way'' to the lake or ''lake access'' rights. Of course this constitutes a major plus for a potential buyer. But what is the real situation here? Here are a few thoughts to help you ask the right questions before you advertise a cottage for sale ''with'' lake access rights.
How to verify the right to practice of an individual or firm in Québec or from another jurisdiction
The practice of real estate brokerage in Québec involves collaboration between licence holders and compensation sharing. It is more and more common to see agencies and brokers working in collaboration with their counterparts from other jurisdictions. Many agencies and brokers also maintain business relationships with brokers and representatives working in the financial services.
“Residential” or “Commercial” Brokerage: Ethical obligations are the same for all
Some real estate brokers and agencies offer services in more than one field of practice, i.e. residential and commercial and therefore do not specialize only in commercial transactions.
From receiving the cheque to withdrawing the deposit: correctly reflecting reality
The various mandatory Promise to purchase forms for residential brokerage have undergone a few changes in the wording of the clause concerning the deposit to be paid on the purchase price. These changes do not represent a drastic change in the way the deposit is managed, but they do require a few adjustments on the part of the broker and the agency.
Clear up any confusion during Open House visits
The OACIQ is concerned by the actions of some brokers or agencies representing sellers with regards to Open Houses, having observed that some do not know the proper way to handle potential buyers who go to Open Houses. This is creating a lot of unnecessary confusion, sometimes even leading to disputes.
Use of clause R2.3 to cancel a first promise to purchase conditional upon the sale of the buyer’s immovable
Clause R2.3 of Annex R – Residential immovable allows for the acceptance of a promise to purchase conditional upon cancellation of a promise previously accepted by the seller. With this clause, the seller promises to undertake, in good faith and at his own expense, reasonable steps to obtain cancellation of every previously accepted promise to purchase the immovable.
Marijuana growhouses: A few precautions
Brokers must sometimes face difficult situations, especially where they suddenly found out that a property concerned in a brokerage contract or a promise to purchase (in progress or accepted) had been used as a marijuana growing operation.
Verifying right of ownership restrictions and consulting the online land register
Just as he must verify the features of an immovable, the real estate broker must know and verify the characteristics of the immovable’s right of ownership under private and public law.
Real estate fraud: Falsely taking a property off the market
When a promise to purchase has been duly accepted by the seller of an immovable, a real estate broker cannot, under any circumstances, accept a buyer’s request to sign and have the seller sign an amendment to a brokerage contract in order to take the property off the market and remove the detailed description sheet and the information contained therein from an information listing service (e.g. CENTRIS®). A property can only be taken off the market by a seller who no longer wishes to sell his property.
What happened to my ''For Sale'' signs?
Real estate brokers who had put up “For Sale” signs were surprised to find their signs gone a short time later. The reason was simple: they had erected their signs within a Ministère des Transports right-of-way.
The legal warranty of ownership and quality
A person selling movable or immovable property must warrant that the property is free from any defect in title and any latent defects.
About the brokerage contract expiry date
An expiry date must be entered in the appropriate space on the mandatory Brokerage contract form.
A suspended or revoked licence bars the holder from practicing
A real estate broker whose licence is suspended or revoked is no longer authorized to practice his profession or carry out brokerage transactions. He must cease any real estate brokerage-related activity.
Using the ''Counter-Proposal to a Promise to Purchase'' to respond to a Promise to Purchase or a Counter-Proposal
The mandatory form entitled Counter-proposal to a Promise to purchase has the advantage that it can be used by both the seller and the buyer, though its name can suggest that it can only be used to reply to a promise to purchase. In fact, it is also used to notify the other party that its ''Counter-proposal to a Promise to purchase'' has been refused and to submit a new proposal.
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