Update: FINTRAC announces new grace period for new obligations starting June 1

On June 1, regulatory amendments from the Financial Transactions & Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will create new, and modify existing, reporting obligations for REALTORS®.

Grace period for new obligations

FINTRAC recently announced a grace period for the new compliance rules from June 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 as a result of the Canadian Real Estate Association’s lobbying efforts.

While REALTORS® are still required to adhere to the new obligations, FINTRAC will be focusing on assessing the pre-June 1, 2021 requirements, as long as Realtors are trying to comply in good faith with the new, stricter rules.

Learn more about this grace period from FINTRAC here.

To help you prepare for these changes, we’re working with BCREA and CREA to develop different resources and learning options.

Click here for a detailed look at what’s changing.

Below are more resources you can use to prepare yourself for the changes:

BCREA and CREA resources

CREA draft materials on FINTRAC compliance (note, these materials may change as FINTRAC provides more clarity and direction)

BCREA materials on money laundering obligations, including FINTRAC and the Land Owner Transparency Registry

BCREA webinar

Understanding the June FINTRAC Changes: A Self-Directed PDP Opportunity for REALTORS® - June 2, 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. Click here to register.

Resources from FINTRAC

• Beneficial ownership requirements  
• Business relationship requirements  
• Ongoing monitoring requirements 
• Politically exposed persons and heads of international organizations guidance for non-account-based reporting entity sectors 
• Record keeping requirements for real estate brokers or sales representatives, and real estate developers  
• Risk assessment 
• Notice on forthcoming regulatory amendments and flexibility

Use Autoprop and HomeSpotter to come through for your clients with the data, reports, and service they need

In today’s fast-paced market, real estate data tools are more important than ever. Autoprop and HomeSpotter are available to you as part of your membership with the Board. Here’s what you need to know about these REBGV services.

Get data, data, and more data with Autoprop

Autoprop allows you to aggregate information from multiple data sources and create reports for your clients. Since the start of the year, we’ve seen a 75 per cent increase in member usage of this service.

Autoprop is a central hub for your real estate data. It allows you to convert zoning, school catchment, permit, and other property information into comprehensive, branded reports.

With Autoprop you can also:

• find comparables for your CMAs and create reports using MLS® data;
• create custom CMAs and other reports that showcase the property details that matter most to your clients;
• find assessment value on homes using the import PID feature;
• display the amenities around a property and estimate travel distances to those amenities using Neighbourhood Expert;
• provide access for your office assistants and unlicensed assistants to delegate work and save you time; and
• much more!

Go to www.autoprop.ca and log in using your MLS® username and password. Alternatively, you can access Autoprop from Paragon using the REBGV Quick Links menu, or by clicking the Autoprop chiclet on a listing or full REALTOR® report.

Don't miss our virtual event with Autoprop on June 23 - watch your inbox for more details!

Access MLS® and connect with clients on the go with the HomeSpotter app

HomeSpotter gives you MLS® access to your saved searches, contacts, and listing carts from any mobile device. You can upload new photos to a listing and, if you have Agent Modify privileges, you can edit remarks in your active listings.

HomeSpotter allows you to perform other common MLS® tasks as well, such as searches and scheduling Touchbase appointments.

Through this app, you can also stay connected with your clients through a portal that you set up.

Within your client portal, you can share new listings and photos, communicate about upcoming virtual open houses, and answer their questions.

Once you’ve downloaded the app from the Apple App or Google Play store, check out one of HomeSpotter’s free tutorial webinars to learn more about how it works.

If you have questions about these tools, call our Help Desk at 604-730-3020.

Paragon getting mobile version called Paragon Connect on June 22

One of the most requested features for Paragon will be coming on June 22 – a mobile version of the platform called Paragon Connect.

Paragon Connect will feature a redesigned and simplified interface that was developed from the ground up to work on mobile devices.

This new version is intended to compliment Paragon’s existing interface rather than replace it. It will provide a more streamlined mobile experience where you can:

• search for listings and share them with your clients
• view client activity on Collaboration Centre
• see activity on your seller’s listings
• search and view hotsheets
• access your listings cart
• and more!

Watch this video to learn more:

This new interface is not an app, it’s a fully responsive web app, meaning you can access it using a web browser on any device without downloading an app.

We’ll provide you with more information on how to access Paragon Connect closer to the release date.

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

The little red circle and white #1

“Update Fairy” is my name for the process that happens when I finally put my iPhone to bed for the night. While I sleep, somewhere, in a fairy-tale castle in the clouds of cyberspace, the Update Fairy waves her magic wand and performs a software/system update, coupled with a warning noted by a little red circle with a white #1 in the middle of “settings.” (Updates on Androids don’t come with that little red circle, but essentially the process is the same, carried out by an Update Fairy from a different castle.)

If you’re a compulsive box-checker or you simply dislike disorderly phone screens, you’ll likely feel an irresistible urge to click “Settings” to deal with the update notification. Once there, you simply click “Update” and (to the nub of today’s subject) then “Agree.” Clicking the all-important agree button gets you the update plus a bonus: the little circle and white #1 (or other notification symbol) disappear.

What could possibly go wrong?

Remember my column, “They snuck that change in,” I wrote in April about the problems some members encountered – members who hadn’t, until a day or two later, noticed late changes made to a countered contract of purchase and sale? Some finger-pointing may result and, no doubt, some liability exposure if something really goes wrong.

A similar risk is attached to clicking that update button on your smartphone. Have you thought about what it actually means? Click it and the notification goes away, but the terms of use you just agreed to have not. If you’re like most people, you probably didn’t read the terms of use. Is that something to worry about?

If you’re having trouble sleeping, consider reading the terms of service/use for your smartphone. You’ll be asleep in no time at all. Earlier this week, I tried to do just that. After 25 swipes of the screen, I was utterly lost and confused over the dense technical prose I was reading. Does anyone out there other than the lawyers and technical writers who wrote these words actually understand what they say? I doubt it. Yet, we agree to the terms without a second thought, leaving ourselves exposed to who knows what, should the makers of whatever technology we’re using ever decide to enforce their terms of service against us.

Similarly, have you ever read our MLS® system (Paragon’s) terms of use? Every time you log in, you have to click “Agree and Sign In.” Agree to what, you ask? Who knows? It’s all in the fine print, as they say. Ditto for realtor.ca; rebgv.ca, and any other website or system you choose to use. This includes our beloved MLS® system, which is backed up by its own terms of service, namely, the Rules of Cooperation. I know you know about the Rules of Cooperation, and I think most of you are pretty familiar with them and their requirements. But are your clients?

I ask that question because when you list a seller’s property you should explain to them you’re obligated to follow the Rules of Cooperation and the REALTOR® Code. It seems obvious perhaps, but what if your seller gives you a lawful instruction that puts you offside with a rule or MLS® policy—like NOT reporting the sale price when the place is sold? Or, Rule 4.02 and the Direction Regarding Presentation of Offers protocols? What if your seller doesn’t like this protocol, saying for example, “offers on May 20, but if I change my mind I’ll look at an earlier one.” Or, “Oooh, that’s great, an early offer came in. I want to look at it right now.”

If you haven’t explained to your clients that, occasionally, their instructions may put you between a rock and a hard place with the rules, you should. Something’s gotta give, as they say. Either you follow your seller’s lawful instruction and ignore the rule (which I don’t recommend) or you tell your seller you can’t do what they are asking. If your seller insists, I suppose you’d have to end the relationship, leaving you unpaid, which would really rub salt in the wound.

So, I say, explain to your sellers that the MLS® system has a set of rules you must follow—similar to website’s terms of use: If you want to use Facebook, you have to agree to its terms of service. If you want to use the MLS® system, you (and by extension, your clients) should understand those rules have to be followed.

And what about the Update Fairy? She’s alive and well in the form of Board staff like me. Every year or two we get together with staffers from other boards to discuss tweaking the rules, with a nip here and a tuck there. Sometimes an entire facelift is required. But no matter how good the facelift, the bone structure beneath doesn’t change. They’re rules, after all, that’s how they roll.

Advocating for REALTORS® in Victoria, Housing Minister David Eby talks affordability and strata insurance, and speculation and vacancy tax information

More affordable homes, strata insurance coming

Attorney General and Housing Minister David Eby shared solutions to making housing and strata insurance more affordable with 250 REBGV Realtors on May 5.

Read more.

Making REALTORS’® concerns heard in Victoria

Making homes more energy efficient and improving the supply of affordable homes were top concerns REBGV Realtors took to Victoria (via zoom) on May 4 and 5.

Read more.

Speculation and vacancy tax relief for non-existent homes

The provincial speculation and vacancy tax (SVT) applies to airspace above buildings classed as residential.

To give commercial tenants and landlords relief, the government is removing the SVT for one year.

Read more.

Run REALTOR®

Khilvinder Kay Hale, a Realtor with Zolo Realty, is running for Council in the City of Richmond’s byelection on May 29.

Read more.

Make an appointment if you need to visit us

While our office on Spruce Street in Vancouver is open for a limited number of staff, it remains closed to walk-in traffic. You can still make an appointment to receive in-person services if needed.

We’ve implemented safety measures at the office to ensure we’re following all public health orders and guidelines set out by WorkSafeBC.

This includes spacing out staff workstations to ensure physical distancing, installing plexiglass shields, providing hand sanitizer stations throughout the building, and adjusting the office layout to avoid crowding in smaller spaces like hallways.

Note that while our Vancouver classrooms are closed, our full course complement is available to you online.

Make an appointment to visit our office

You can contact any REBGV staff member and access all of our services virtually. (Click here for our staff and services contact list.)

If you need to come to the office, please follow these steps:

• Contact the person or department you need to see to set up your appointment. You’ll need to complete a health questionnaire.
• When you come to the office for your appointment, enter from the lobby doors on Spruce Street.
• Please sanitize your hands and proceed to reception to sign in.
• You’ll be required to wear a double-mask for the duration of your visit. We recommend you bring your own; we'll provide them for you if you don’t have any.
• Keep at least two metres (six feet) of physical distance between yourself and others while in the building. Always read and follow the signage posted around the building.
• When your appointment is finished, please sign out at reception.

If you have questions, please call us at 604-730-3000.