BC’s Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE) is overseeing changes that’ll have a profound impact on our profession. The OSRE has begun implementing the 28 recommendations that the Real Estate Council of BC's Independent Advisory Group (IAG) made last year.

To date, the OSRE has implemented recommendations to:

• raise English proficiency standards for new entrants to the profession;
• overhaul the composition of people who sit on Council; and
• increase the maximum fine to $250,000 for licensees and to $500,000 for brokerages.

The most recent announcement was a ban on limited dual agency in the province.

Beginning January 15, 2018, you’ll no longer be able to provide agency representation to two parties in the same transaction. This means you won't be able to represent a buyer and a seller in a deal, or represent two competing buyers in the same transaction.

The OSRE exempted remote areas underserved by real estate licensees. The BC Real Estate Association (BCREA) advocated for this exemption and we're pleased it’s in the new rules. Double-ending will also be allowed within the rules, as will the practice of designated agency, where two licensees in the same brokerage represent different parties in a transaction.

Members are asking us questions about how the new rules will affect their responsibilities to clients and customers, particularly with respect to teams and commercial real estate. We're working with BCREA to surface your questions and concerns, get the answers you need and, where complexities continue to exist, forward them to the superintendent.

You can also give feedback on these changes directly to the OSRE until October 6. Click here to do so.

(Read more about this change and the actions we’re taking in response in the week’s GR Voice article here.)

The remaining IAG recommendations will be implemented. It’s a matter of when and how.

We hosted a productive meeting with the superintendent and his team earlier this year. They expressed a willingness to maintain a regular dialogue to ensure they understand our perspective on the changes they’re making. We’ll look for every opportunity to continue these discussions in the weeks and months ahead.

We’re working with BCREA to understand the implications around each of the recommendations, identify the potential impact on our members, meet with government officials, and coordinate our advocacy efforts. Click here to read a letter BCREA sent Finance Minister Carol James on this issue.

We’re in a period of significant government intervention. National, provincial, and local politicians of all political stripes are responding to public concerns about housing affordability and a perceived lack of fairness and transparency in how the real estate transaction is conducted.

On these issues, governments at all levels have public support for change:

• Last year’s foreign buyer tax was popular, as was the City of Vancouver’s empty homes tax.
• In its bid to stave off potential mortgage debt issues, the federal government has made it harder for people to get a mortgage six times in the last nine years. They’re proposing regulation changes again, this time targeting people renewing uninsured mortgages.
• The new provincial government will spend $208 million to build 1,700 new affordable rental housing units over the next 10 years.

Our philosophy on government policy is simple: REALTORS® support measures that protect the public and strengthen accountability for those in our profession who act outside the public interest. We also support measures that improve housing affordability and build better communities in a meaningful, lasting, and sustainable way. 

We assess the merits of every proposed policy against these criteria.

We can’t be successful in our government advocacy work without your support. In this time of change, it’s important that you read our communications and give your feedback as we continue to work on your behalf.

If you have questions or comments, you can reach me at president@rebgv.org.

Sincerely,

Jill Oudil
President
Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver 

The BC Budget, giving government feedback, local byelections and manufactured homes

The new BC government released its first budget update on September 11. It includes help for renters and homeless residents, tax increases and decreases, and no change to the Property Transfer Tax. These announcements weren't a surprise given the Throne Speech the week prior.

Read more about the Budget Update and the Throne Speech.

Consultation seems to be on everyone’s mind, and all three levels of government are asking for feedback.

Provincially, the superintendent of real estate wants to know what licensees and their clients think about the proposed ban on limited dual agency and new fee disclosure requirements his office announced this month.

Read more.

Federally, the finance department is looking for comments about proposed tax changes for small businesses. Don’t delay – this is your opportunity to tell the finance minister about personal real estate corporations and your concerns about any tax system changes. Your Board is working on a submission to government now and welcomes your written comments.

Read more.

Meanwhile, Port Moody and Vancouver have upcoming municipal byelections. In Vancouver, an entire new school board will also be elected. Find out who’s running and how to vote.

Read more.

Lastly, if you help clients buy or sell manufactured homes, you need to make sure there’s an up-to-date electrical safety certificate on the unit.

Here's how. 

Your member site, www.rebgv.ca, is a one-stop website for the business tools, statistics, and information you use every day.

Here are five things you can do on rebgv.ca that’ll help you as a professional:

Get the latest market stats

Access powerful tools that help you understand current market conditions. Want to see the benchmark price of a townhome in Steveston Village? What about new construction sales in Burnaby? With Stats Centre, you can create and share housing market graphs for your area or subarea of choice. There are 10 statistical measures to choose from and you can filter your results based on property type, number of bedrooms, and more.

We also provide housing market reports for your area of choice. If you’re looking for something at a higher level, check out our monthly residential and quarterly commercial stats releases. They’ll give you the context and commentary you need to understand long-term regional market trends.

Access all the tools you need in one place

Below the banner image on the home page is your REALTOR® Toolbox. It gives you links to our most popular tools. Access Paragon, Commercial Services, Touchbase, WEBForms, Stats Centre, and Medallion Club all in one, mobile-friendly place.

Check your PDP status

The last thing you need is an interruption to your membership. Check your Professional Development Program (PDP) status at any time by clicking on My Profile in the top right corner of the page. If you need more courses, scroll through our courses and events calendar and register from the site.

Get the latest real estate news

Click on REBGV News and Information and read all the latest on what’s happening in real estate. Our newsletter, the REALTOR® News, covers issues that affects your business — whether it's updates on our latest PDP courses, regular MLS® and technology tips, or news on government policy that could impact your clients, we've got you covered.

Track your Medallion points

Members in the top 10 per cent of sales in the year qualify for our Medallion Club. You can keep track of your Medallion Club standing when you click on My Profile in the top right corner of the site. 

Ouch. It hurts when members sometimes say that to me. Sadly, it’s true that the Board can't remedy everything that bugs us. But it has a very capable, volunteer-run Professional Conduct Committee and I’d like to highlight its work.

First, let’s manage expectations as to what this committee can do. It's the only constituted mechanism the Board has to discipline members. The committee enforces two bodies of rules: the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and the Rules of Cooperation.

The committee doesn’t have jurisdiction over lawful client instructions, civility (except in egregious circumstances), quality of service, and business models.

The committee can’t administer federal and provincial statutes such as the Competition Act, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, Canada's anti-spam legislation, the BC Real Estate Services Act, and the BC Personal Information Protection Act. The committee also can’t enforce local government bylaws.

Sometimes a complaint is backed by little evidence other than one member’s belief that what another member did failed to pass the “smell test.” But after a statute’s enforcement agency has found a member guilty of wrongdoing, the committee can use Article 18 (Compliance with Statutory Requirements) of the REALTOR® Code to hold a member accountable.

And since last year, all consumer complaints must first be sent to the Real Estate Council. So your Professional Conduct Committee must hold its fire regarding complaints already being dealt with by the Council and/or the courts.

I know it’s a long list of qualifiers. But despite these constraints, there’s a lot the committee does to deal with members’ behaviour that doesn’t measure up. Similar to Council’s publishing of its disciplinary decisions, committee decisions are published on www.rebgv.ca.

Each case is numbered and complete details are given about who was involved, what happened, what the committee thought, and what the discipline was. You’ll find it educational to read what some of your colleagues have been up to and what your committee has done. We post these cases on:

• The sidebar of Paragon home page;
• www.rebgv.ca on the Professional Conduct Cases page; and
• In our Realtor News as rulings are available.

Note: Please remember that these cases are not public. They'e published for the information and education of members only. Revealing a Professional Conduct Committee decision to the public is a potential breach of the Realtor Code, Article 26 (26.4), and the Rules of Cooperation, Rule 6.08 b. 

The Ethics Guy® at your office

It's that time of year again. If you’d like me to attend one of your brokerage meetings, please let me know. I’m happy to discuss current topics of interest as well as any professional standards or conduct concerns you may have. And, for my part, getting out to brokerages helps me stay in touch with what’s on your mind, too, so let me know and I'll plan to visit your office.

Top Tip: Seller reserves the right to consider offers earlier

Here’s a follow-up to my “I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial” column. The Professional Conduct Committee has now weighed in on the practice of delaying offer presentations until a certain date, citing Rules of Cooperation, Rule 3.21, and including the clause “unless the sellers change their mind.”

Our MLS® department’s policy is that such a clause used in conjunction with Rule 3.21 contradicts and therefore voids a delayed offer presentation notice. As a result, the clause won’t be published in the listing information. The seller is required to issue amended instructions either by removing the contradictory wording or by removing the instruction to delay. 

Commercial First is our new platform that allows you to promote and research commercial real estate listings.

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The platform also contains analytics, automation, and communication tools to improve efficiency. Reports and analytics can be automated and paired with the built-in email system to keep you and your clients informed. Commercial First also offers social media integration for you to market your listings to a wider clientele.

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Colliers Macaulay Nicolls, Inc.

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