REALTORS^® avoid Law Society regulation

Toronto, October 19, 2006 – The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) has succeeded in its push to amend legislation that would have made Ontario REALTORS^® subject to regulation by the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC). The Access to Justice Act, 2006, will include an exemption for all individuals registered under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, thanks to OREA’s lobbying effort.

The act will regulate paralegals in Ontario by the LSUC, but its initial wording cast its legislative net so broadly that other professions could have been affected adversely. The act originally stated that an individual who “drafts, completes or revises a document that affects a person’s interests or rights to or in real or personal property” is considered to be providing legal services, which would have come under LSUC regulation.

“This is an important victory,” said President Tim Lee. “REALTORS^® are already well-regulated, and more regulation would only cause confusion in the minds of consumers, increase red tape for real estate businesses and impose a new tax on the profession in the form of LSUC license fees.”

OREA also took the position that not only was extra regulation unnecessary, regulation by members of the Law Society posed a potential for abuse by the legal profession. Allowing lawyers, some of whom work in the real estate industry, the authority to impose restrictions on what REALTORS^® may or may not do, would have given them the power to reserve work for themselves and shut REALTORS^® out of work they currently perform.

The amended legislation passed third and final reading in October, and is expected to receive Royal Assent shortly.

The Ontario Real Estate Association represents 40,000 brokers and salespeople who are members of the 43 real estate boards throughout the province.  Members of the association may use the REALTOR^® trademark, which identifies them as real estate professionals who subscribe to a high standard of ethics and service.

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