BCFSA to become the sole regulator of real estate in BC: What we know so far

Starting August 1, the BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) will become the sole regulator of our profession in the province, taking on the functions of both the Real Estate Council and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate.

Initially, this will:

• Renumber the current Real Estate Rules. See BCREA’s guide for more details.
• Transfer disciplinary panels to the BCFSA.

Current Council advisory committees will remain in place for now, but a new stakeholder engagement plan will be coming.

Your Board and BCREA are strongly advocating for this new stakeholder engagement plan to include close, meaningful input from REALTORS®.

We’ll keep you up to date as more information becomes available.

New BCFSA board of directors

In advance of the amalgamation, BCFSA appointed five new directors to their board starting July 31.

These are:

• John Thwaites recently retired as CEO with Remcan Projects LP, where he continues to serve as a director/advisor.
• Yasin Amlani is a corporate and real estate lawyer by profession with over 20 years of practice in the industry.
• Sandra Heath is a retired Human Resources Consultant. She started and wound up HTD Inc., an international training and human resources consulting firm that focused on developing organization and leadership capacity.
• Donnie Wing is Treasurer for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation and the past chair of the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Society.
• Don Wright served as Deputy Minister to Premier, Secretary to Cabinet, and Head of the Public Service for the Government of British Columbia and was President and Chief Executive Officer for Central 1 Credit Union.

Click here for more on this announcement. 

Background info

According to BCFSA, the integration will simplify accountabilities and enhance regulatory oversight through more effective and efficient business processes, investigations, and enforcements.

Creating a single financial services regulator was a key recommendation from the Expert Panel on Money Laundering Report released in May 2019 and the Real Estate Regulatory Structure Review conducted by Dan Perrin in September 2018.

The provincial government first announced this change in November 2019.

What to expect

BCFSA will have authority over real estate education and licensing as well as investigations and discipline responsibilities for licensed and unlicensed real estate activity, including real estate development marketing. It’ll also have rule-making authority governing the conduct of real estate licensees.

REALTORS Care® Shelter Drive raises $15,000 for housing charities during pandemic

The REALTORS Care® Shelter Drive raised $15,000 for three housing charities in Metro Vancouver over a challenging year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shelter Drive is an initiative developed by Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) REALTORS® that raises funds each year for housing-related charities within Metro Vancouver. 

This year, our total includes a donation from Teldon calendars and the Board, interest from our fund with the Vancouver Foundation, and funds we raised online at Board events like Medallion.

“The pandemic challenged us in many ways, including fundraising for our Shelter Drive charities,” said Taylor Biggar, REBGV Chair. “These member-donated funds will help three local charities provide critical services to residents in our region.”

Charities receiving donations

This year’s donations went to Aunt Leah’s Place in New Westminster, Dixon Transition House in Burnaby, and Zero Ceiling in Whistler. These charities provide people in need with a safe and supportive place to live, and programs to help them transition to independent living.

Aunt Leah's Place, New Westminster

Aunt Leah’s Place helps prevent children in foster care from becoming homeless and mothers in need from losing custody of their children. Our donation will support Thresholds, their program that provides supported housing and services for new moms at risk of losing custody of their child. Our donation will be matched so it totals $10,000.

Dixon Transition Society, Burnaby

Dixon Transition Society provides a safe place for women and their children escaping violence at home. Our donation will help provide a furnished communal space for workshops, a children's area, and computers for learning and upgrading skills.

Zero Ceiling, Whistler

Zero Ceiling helps young people (19-24) facing homelessness transition to adulthood. Our donation will go toward implementing a case management system that allows case workers to manage the needs, goals, progress, and success of their clients.

The REALTORS Care® Shelter Drive was created in 2009 and is funded entirely by you, our members through fundraising drives and REALTORS Care® calendar and home show ticket sales. It’s raised $372,000 since it began.

Be vigilant: REALTORS® reporting lewd, harassing messages

We’re receiving reports that female Realtors are receiving lewd and harassing messages, images, and videos. These harassers tend to use “spoofed”, or fake, phone numbers.

If someone is harassing you, note the time, date, phone number, and the name of the sender. Even if the number is fake, this information can be used to identify them. Don’t engage with them and file a report with your local police detachment using the non-emergency line.

You should also let us know. Contact Mark Moldowan at mmoldowan@rebgv.org with the details noted above. We keep note of these incidents to provide to police.

If your harasser is making threats, or if you believe you’re in danger, call 911.

Safety tips for Realtors:

• Always have another Realtor at your showing or open house.
• Jot down your client’s car descriptions, licence plate numbers, and physical descriptions.
• Trust your gut: if you sense someone is up to no good, keep a close eye on them.
• Do whatever it takes to remove yourself from an uncomfortable situation.
• Always walk behind the attendee and show the house by directing, not leading, them.
• Notify someone in your office or a friend that you’ll call every hour on the hour when conducting an open house or showing. If you don’t call, they should notify police.

Where does advertising live?

It’s an odd question, and one I’ve been pondering. I think advertising in real estate lives in a subjective grey area, somewhere between the truth and a fib. I could have said “lie” instead of “fib,” but if a lie were involved, a very definite line would be crossed, namely the REALTOR® Code and the Rules of Cooperation.

I don’t think any of us wants to be party to an outright lie. But, when we’re drafting an ad, we want to put our (or a property’s) best foot forward. How else do we explain the photographs of ourselves adorning our ads and websites? I mean, when we meet a colleague, occasionally the image doesn’t quite match the reality. It’s a kindness not to point out we’re all getting older, and I think it’s generally accepted for picture-taking sessions that it’s okay to spend time in the boudoir before going to the studio and, once there, to get the lighting just right while making sure the photographer captures our best side.

I’m guilty of all of this. I see myself as being younger than my chronological age. It helps that as we get older our eyesight often deteriorates, somewhat obliterating from the mirror the ravages of time. If I were to be brutally candid with myself, I’d recognize that I’m beginning to look uncomfortably close to how my father looked in his later years. Having him stare back at me is a shock, so why not over wash that reflection with one of my own making?

I’ll leave it to you to consider how far you can push the envelope in the looks and photography department. Let’s just say that the cosmetics, grooming, and plastic surgery industries exist for a reason. We want to look our best, whether to attract a mate or get a better result at a listing presentation.

Ditto for the properties we list. We’re not being hired to only tell the truth. We’re being hired to present an image of what it would be like to live there and to make the property look its best. Sometimes this takes a bit of strategic staging or getting the photograph angle and light just right. Amid all the advertising clutter, we have to do something to make the subject of our ad stand out. For some of us and the properties we list, that means taking flattering pictures. 

Getting our ad noticed may also require we use a bit of artistic licence to paint that all-important picture of what the place is really like. For example, think of a cottage barely big enough for Snow White and her seven pals. Heaven forbid we tell the unvarnished truth by saying, “Perfect for one person; it’s just 495 square feet.” Our clients hire us to get a result by convincing buyers to beat a path to the front door. So why not say, “Cute and larger than it looks,” or something similar.

That’s what I mean by saying that advertising lives in real estate between the truth and a fib. We all know advertising contains embellishments. (Look up “puffery in advertising” if you want to know more.) But what isn’t okay is to cross the line from a fib to a misrepresentation by fabricating facts or making outright false statements. Doing so would be a potential breach of the REALTOR® Code Article 13 and 15, and the Rules of Cooperation, 8.01, 8.08, and 8.10.

Recently, lying awake one night, wondering what I would write about before my next deadline, I started thinking about the potential consequences of a misleading ad.

If you read my last column, you’ll remember my saga of daughter’s big night out at the art gallery and the considerable amount of effort and plastic it took to get her ready for the grand event.

After all that, she was cancelled.

“Huh?” I said, when she told me. “Whaddaya mean, for Chrissakes?”

It seems the event planner forgot about COVID restrictions. Too many people were invited and so the “nice to have but don’t have to be there guests” were dropped. I don’t know if they were embarrassed but they should have been. And my grown-up little girl’s great big eyes were brimming. Daddy was not amused. Murder and similar, came to mind.

You don’t want that to be the result of your ads, not to mention it not being fun to get unwanted attention from the Professional Conduct Committee, the BC Financial Services Authority or both. Keep your advertising looking good—but keep it real.

GR Voice: Vancouver budget consultation, two homes on ALR lands, high density on Jericho Lands

Tell Vancouver your 2022 spending priorities 

If you live, own or operate a business in Vancouver, the city wants to hear from you on spending priorities for 2022 as part of their annual budget engagement process. 

Read more.

ALR farmland – two dwellings permitted with conditions 

Property owners in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) who meet certain conditions will be able to build a second permanent dwelling as of December 31, 2021. 

Read more.

Higher-density homes coming to Jericho Lands 

Vancouver city council has reviewed new draft guiding principles for the Jericho Lands which include higher density market and rental apartments. 

Read more.

Paragon Connect adds multi-class search and sub-area map layers

Paragon Connect’s first update on July 28 includes two key enhancements for members: A multi-class search option, and area and sub-area boundaries for both REBGV and Fraser Valley.

Multi-class search

Paragon Connect now lets you search across several property types. Could your clients, who’re looking for a townhome, afford a detached home on their budget? No need to run multiple searches to find out anymore.

Area and sub-area map layers

Use Paragon Connect’s map layers to quickly find which Burnaby North neighbourhood the property your client is interested in. All our areas and sub-areas are available, as well as FVREB areas and sub-areas.

Learn how to use Paragon Connect with our new quick start guide and webinar

Our Paragon Connect quick start guide and recorded webinar will get you going with Paragon Connect. Click here to access these resources.

Questions? Call the Help Desk at 604-730-3020.