January 18th - 2007

Privacy compliance tip sheet updated

The federal privacy law has changed the way REALTORS®, as well as every commercial organization in Ontario, conduct their businesses since PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) came into effect three years ago on January 1, 2004.

The federal privacy law has changed the way REALTORS®, as well as every commercial organization in Ontario, conduct their businesses since PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) came into effect three years ago on January 1, 2004.
 
By now, every brokerage will have appointed a privacy officer, developed and implemented a privacy policy and procedures to protect personal information, and trained all REALTORS® and support staff on how the privacy policies work.
 
However, many REALTORS® are sometimes unsure of how to put privacy compliance into practice. In that regard, REALTORS® may wish to refer to the recently updated Privacy Tip Sheet for Ontario REALTORS®. The tip sheet contains many privacy compliance Dos and Don’ts for REALTORS® to use in their day-to-day activities.
 
Here are two examples of the Dos and Don’ts from the tip sheet:

  1. Do not advertise just sold properties without first obtaining the consent of the seller and/or buyer.
    Did you know such a requirement for consent is an obligation for your compliance under federal privacy law (PIPEDA)? Similarly, real estate salespersons and brokers must comply with the requirements for written consent according to the RECO Advertising Guidelines under REBBA 2002. The specific advertising consent guidelines concerning information about parties, properties and transactions that are contained in the RECO Advertising Guidelines can also be found in RECO’s Guide to REBBA 2002 and also within the REBBA 2002 – Advertising section of the RECO Web site.
  2. Do not use expired listing information obtained from a board’s MLS® system to market to the seller unless the seller has given his/her consent to be contacted after the listing has expired.
    A listing will indicate “contact” or “do not contact” after expiry to reflect the seller’s response to the expired listing consent clause (#11 – Use and distribution of information) contained in the OREA standard form listing agreement – Form 200 04/2006.

To find more Dos and Don’ts check the OREA Privacy Tip Sheet for Ontario REALTORS®, found in the My OREA - Legal – Privacy Compliance section of the OREA Web site http://www.orea.com/. This section of the OREA Web site is updated on a regular basis and contains numerous articles, resource materials and the Privacy Matters! newsletter.

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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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