The BCREA is actually quite bothered by this choice to make a change by the BC Government. It is not the industry leaders that are forcing this decision. It is the government. The way that I see it is this: they are under political pressure to DO SOMETHING. They have followed suit with the NEWS and MEDIA which vilified the "greedy REALTORS and has determined that Dual Agency is the culprit. They could not be farther from the truth. The Real Estate Industry which has been policing itself for 12 years has been doing an excellent job in BC building up the reputation of the Real Estate professional and keeping the 22,000 estimated licensees in line. The problem is that in every industry and every profession, there are people who are less than honest. There are people who will operate for personal gain. There are people will commit fraud. There are people who will take advantage of their own grand-mother if it meant making a few extra bucks. There are people who are driven by success and recognition and do not care who they step on to get ahead. There are people who will not operate within the principals of our Industry. People. But just because they carry a Real Estate license, it should not paint us all with the same brush.
They are the few. Less than 200.
They are not the norm. That leaves 21,800 really good people that are licensed.
They are not indicative of the whole profession.
Not even close.
They are less than 1% of the people that hold a Real Estate license.
Now that is fine. Penalize the Perpetrators. Do that. Maybe even make the punishment more extreme. That is fine. I agree with that. Make it really expensive. Maybe even charge them criminally in some cases and maybe they should enjoy some jail time. Yes. Do that.
BUT WHY.....are we penalizing the Public who we are supposed to protect?
We are adding more confusion to the already confusing issue of representation. There are people that will want to deal with me and I am going to have to say to them...."listen, I cannot give you agency even though we have done a deal in the past, but in this case, I can't. Can you just sign this form stating that you understand that?"
Agency used to be forever. Now it is transactional. I have relationships with my clients. Very good ones indeed and now in a lot of situations, I will have to tell them this. I know stuff about them, but now, it is recommended that I have to refer these people to someone else. How can I guarantee that these people will be taken care of the same way that I would? How? I can't! This is upsetting.
WE CANNOT LEGISLATE BAD PEOPLE INTO BEING GOOD PEOPLE!!!!!
This is such a governmental way of doing things. "OH, well, we can hire some lawyers to draft up some more forms. Then we can hire people to audit all of the real estate companies to ensure that the forms are being used correctly. Then we can hire people to penalize and fine the people and Agencies that fail to use the forms properly"......Where in this picture are they spending time and resources protecting the public against the BAD GUYS? Don't they understand that Bad Guys will always be Bad Guys and they will find another opportunity and another way to operate criminally.
In Addition, the problems that they are referring to and the issues that were in the NEWS and MEDIA all occurred in the Vancouver area. Not one of the issues occurred in any other Board in the Province of BC that I could find. That's not to say that there weren't disciplinary actions were not assessed to people other Boards but they were not NEWS worthy.
Maybe part of the problem is that there are offices that have 700 licensees associated with an office. It is very common for an office to have over 200 plus licensees in the Greater Vancouver Area. How the heck can they properly manage their agents? How? Tell me? The Managers probably cannot even remember the names of half the agents in their office let alone understand the nuances of every deal that they are checking. Maybe they should focus on things like that instead of making "Dual Agency" the Bad Guy.
Kelly Johnston - Select Real Estate
For more info see below:
This message is being sent to all BC REALTORS®. On November 15, the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE) announced rule changes under the Real Estate Services Act banning limited dual agency as of March 15, 2018.These final rules are the same as the draft rules released in September. The only difference is an extended implementation period, as the original date was January 15, 2018.The rules will:
1420 – 701 Georgia Street West, PO Box 10123, Pacific Centre, Vancouver, BC, V7Y 1C6
Phone: 604.683.7702 | Fax: 604.683.8601 | bcrea@bcrea.bc.ca
- Ban limited dual agency, the practice of acting on behalf of more than one party in a real estate transaction. There will be an exemption for remote communities with few licensees, as proposed in the draft rules, but we understand that will be applied only in very specific circumstances. No further exemptions have been added.
- Require enhanced disclosure of real estate licensee remuneration that will inform consumers about how and whether remuneration will be shared between a listing brokerage and cooperating brokerage.
- Require enhanced communication from licensees to consumers regarding the duties and responsibilities of the licensee to clients, customers and unrepresented parties.
1420 – 701 Georgia Street West, PO Box 10123, Pacific Centre, Vancouver, BC, V7Y 1C6
Phone: 604.683.7702 | Fax: 604.683.8601 | bcrea@bcrea.bc.ca
