December 5th - 2004

What's new in standard forms

In a business that relies on the exchange of personal information, the privacy legislation introduced this year has a major influence.

In a business that relies on the exchange of personal information, the privacy legislation introduced this year has a major influence. Consent, for instance, is a big issue, though simple enough; you must obtain an individual's permission to collect, use and disclose whatever personal information you are asking for. Many of the changes to standard forms respond to the legislation to help make the REALTOR’s job of compliance easier.

New Forms
Three new residential forms have been introduced: Open House Guest Registration (Form 270), Directions re: Showings/Offers (Form 244), and Offer Presentation- Acknowledgement (Form 109).

Open House Guest Registration: The Standard Forms Committee received several requests for a new form that can be used to register open house guests. The recent concern over privacy makes such a form essential when a salesperson holds an open house. This form addresses the security issue for the sellers, includes permission for the salesperson to provide marketing information to the visitors and identifies a situation when a visitor is already working with a buyer representative.

Directions re: Showings/Offers: assists the listing salesperson in providing information to the real estate board and other members in cases where the seller wants to place restrictions on showings, inspections and offer presentations.

Offer Presentation- Acknowledgement: is designed to verify that an offer has been, in fact, presented. Members will be able to use this form in all situations when an offer is not accepted or is not countered. The form can also be used in the same way for a counter offer.

Similarly, five new OREA commercial forms have been created including a separate listing form for sale and for lease: Listing Agreement-Commercial, Authority to Offer for Sale (Form 520) and Listing Agreement – Commercial, Authority to Offer for Lease (Form 525).

Other new commercial forms include:

  • Listing Agreement – Commercial Authority to Offer for Sub-lease (Form 530);
  • Agreement to Sub-lease - Commercial (Form 515); and
  • Schedule A-Agreement to Sub-lease - Commercial (Form 516).

Revisions
The Agreement of Purchase and Sale (Form 100), was one of several OREA forms that were revised over the year. In the Confirmation of Representation section of the form, extra lines were added to allow for additional information about the listing and co-operating broker. To eliminate any confusion of this section with the Confirmation of Co-operation and Representation (Form 320) it will now simply be entitled “Representation." This change will be made to all forms that have the Representation section.

There were two changes made to the Commission Agreement for Property Not Listed (Form 201). Because of privacy issues, the “Use and Distribution of Information” clause from the listing was added. Another clause was added for a seller to authorize the placement of a SOLD sign on a property that was previously on the market as a “For Sale by Owner.”

The standard Listing Agreement (Form 200) was modified to allow real estate boards to participate in the CREA Permissions Based Technology program. This required a revision of the “Marketing” clause on the form and this change is being made to all of the forms that have the “Marketing” clause.

In the Confidentiality Agreement- Commercial (Form 560) a clause was added to deal with privacy. The word “Commercial” was also added to the title of this form.

Also due to privacy concerns, the “Use and Distribution of Information” clause from the OREA Listing Agreement was added to the following four forms: Agreement to Lease- Residential (Form 400); Rental Application- Residential (Form 410); Broker/Salesperson Employment Agreement (Form 600); and, Independent Contractor Saleperson’s Agreement (Form 601).

Additions to Standard Clauses
Two schedules will be included in the standard clauses for the sale of new homes– one to deal with Goods and Services Tax for a new home transaction and one to provide the required statutory provisions of the Tarion Warranty Inc. (Ontario New Home Warranty Plan Act.)

For condominium transactions, clauses have been added to establish who obtains the Status certificate, and a “Schedule B” has also been created for use when selling a common elements condominium (POTL). The schedule would be used with the Standard Agreement of Purchase and Sale Form 100.

The Standard Forms Committee has also requested and obtained changes to CREA’s WEBforms (on the REALTORLINK web site), including the addition of OREA’s “Working with a REALTOR” pamphlet, which can be completed on-line, and e-mailed.

New forms and revisions will be available on the website by the end of the year: to view them visit www.orea.com, under “My OREA” and “standard forms.”     

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For more information contact

Ontario Real Estate Association

Jean-Adrien Delicano

Manager, Media Relations

JeanAdrienD@orea.com

416-445-9910 ext. 246

Ontario Real Estate Association
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