October 5th - 2005

OREA reviews CRG agency recommendations

OREA is working to ensure that any changes to agency guidelines as a result of the Canadian Regulators Group (CRG) Agency Task Force recommendations are practical and workable for the day-to-day activities of members.

OREA is working to ensure that any changes to agency guidelines as a result of the Canadian Regulators Group (CRG) Agency Task Force recommendations are practical and workable for the day-to-day activities of members.

Recommendations for changes to the way agency is applied and interpreted across Canada are currently under review by provincial real estate regulators including RECO. An OREA group, working jointly with RECO, is considering whether or not the recommendations make sense from a REALTOR’s point of view and is preparing its contribution to RECO’s response to the CRG report.

The CRG is made up of senior staff members from the various regulatory bodies in the provinces and territories. These representatives participate in ongoing meetings and projects that relate to licensing, business practices, setting standards and protecting consumers.

The CRG’s Agency Task Force was formed to review and make recommendations on a variety of issues related to “agency” that would reduce complaints, link requirements between various agreements, and improve licensee/registrant and consumer knowledge. The task force is proposing a common set of definitions for industry terms, standard forms that identify the obligations of industry members, and related education programs as ways to increase understanding.

Many of the group’s recommendations pay particular attention to dual agency. For example, to address dual agency arising from different salespeople in the same brokerage representing the seller and the buyer, the task force is recommending “designated agency” as the model for the future. Designated agency is defined as a relationship in which one or more industry members, licensed with the same brokerage, are designated in writing by the brokerage to act as sole agents for a buyer or a seller with respect to the same trade.

To handle dual agency arising from the same agent representing both the buyer and the seller, the task force is recommending “transaction brokerage” as the model. This relationship allows a brokerage or industry member to provide facilitation services to the buyer and the seller in the same trade.

OREA and RECO are actively working together to review all of the CRG report recommendations and their impact on how members conduct business. However, in the interim, both have agreed that communication and education should focus on upcoming changes to REBBA 2002 regulations as a first priority, followed by education and implementation of the new CREA Code of Ethics.

To find out more about the CRG Agency Task Force recommendations visit www.canadianregulators.ca.

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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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