letters of reprimand

Letters of Reprimand (August 24 – September 21, 2021)

Real Estate Act Rules s.41(b)

Real estate licensees must provide competent service.

1. John Doe

Real estate associate registered with BGB Realty Inc. o/a Re/Max Realty Professionals.

  • On May 7, 2021, John brought their buyer clients to view a property.
  • The sellers returned home to find their back door and the lockbox open.
  • John had trouble securing the lockbox, but believed it was locked when they left.
  • John did not check the back door prior to leaving and it was left open.

Learning Opportunity:

Licensees must ensure they exercise reasonable care and skill at all times when showing properties. Consumers must trust that licensees have taken proper steps to secure their property before leaving it. In this case, the licensee failed to ensure the house was fully locked up, leaving the back door and lockbox unsecured when they left.

Real Estate Act s.59(4)(e)(ii)

A brokerage must, if authorized to enter into a transaction brokerage
relationship, disclose to the seller, all material facts relevant to the buyer’s
ability to purchase the property known to the brokerage.

1. John Doe

Real estate associate registered with Grassroots Realty Group Ltd. o/a Grassroots Realty Group.

  • On February 27, 2018, John’s brokerage entered into a common law brokerage agreement to represent both the seller and the buyer for the purchase of a property, otherwise known as transaction brokerage.
  • John represented the brokerage while working with the buyer and another licensee from the brokerage represented the brokerage while working with the seller.
  • On April 10, 2018, John was made aware the buyer was having difficulty with their financing.
  • John was advised the client could not close on April 16, 2018, and they requested an extension of possession.
  • John disclosed to the seller that the buyer requested an extension as their financing was not complete.
  • Upon instruction from their lawyer, the seller informed John that they would not change the possession date on the contract but would instead put forward closing day delay costs and wait until May 1, 2018.
  • On April 14, 2018, John was made aware that the buyer may face legal issues that would affect their ability to finance the purchase of the property.
  • John did not disclose this information to the seller.
  • The buyer did face legal issues and did not have the funds to purchase the property.
  • On May 1, 2018, the deal collapsed.
  • On May 9, 2018, Jebb’s brokerage paid the buyer’s deposit to the seller’s lawyer.
  • The seller stated, had they been aware of the legal issues and financing difficulties faced by the buyer, they would not have agreed to wait until May 1, 2018

Learning Opportunity:

Transaction brokerage is a service option in which a brokerage or an individual licensee provides facilitation services to a buyer and seller in the same transaction. Part of the licensees’ requirement is to tell the seller, all material facts about the buyer’s ability to purchase the property.

Real Estate Act Rules s.41(b)

Real estate licensees must provide competent service.

1. John Doe

Real estate broker registered at time of conduct with Tribe Real Estate Ltd. o/a Tribe Real Estate Company. Currently registered with Arivl Ltd. o/a Arivl.

  • After measuring a property, John advertised the property on the feature sheet as having a measurement of 949 square feet.
  • The correct measurement using the Residential Measurement Standard (RMS) of the property was 909 square feet.
  • John stated the information presented on the listing was not what they measured.
  • John failed to exercise reasonable care and skill in reviewing the advertising for the property

Learning Opportunity:

Licensees are expected to be competent in their services, including ensuring they measure properties using RMS or engage third parties to measure properties using RMS, and including that they exercise reasonable care and skill. In this case, the licensee did not exercise reasonable care and skill when reviewing the advertising for the property and failed to notice the error in the property measurement.

Real Estate Act Rules s.40

Licensees must immediately notify the Registrar of certain prescribed
events, in writing.

1. John Doe

Real estate broker registered with Linc Realty Advisors Inc. o/a AG Property Services.

  • John failed to immediately notify the Registrar of a certain prescribed event, in writing

Learning Opportunity:

Licensees must immediately notify the Registrar—prior to Dec 1, 2020, the Executive Director— in writing, when certain events occur (name change, discipline, criminal proceedings, etc.). In this case, the licensee had a situation requiring notification occur before they notified RECA. Immediately is defined as “without delay,” and in the absence of extraordinary circumstances, written notification to the Registrar should occur not more than five (5) days after the event in question.

Real Estate Act Rules s.43(2)(c)

A real estate licensee must provide any amendment or addition to the
terms on an agreement, in writing, to the relevant parties.

1. John Doe

Real estate associate registered with The Real Estate Company Ltd. o/a The Real Estate Company.

  • In July 2020, John entered into an Exclusive Seller Representation Agreement for a property.
  • Prior to the Agreement expiring, John had a verbal discussion with one of the seller clients to extend the Agreement.
  • John did not have the same discussion with the other seller client.
  • The Agreement expired October 30, 2020.
  • John continued to advertise the property after the expiry date and extended the listing in the listing database with a November 30, 2020 expiry.
  • Prior to the Agreement expiring on October 30, 2020, John failed to provide an amendment to extend the Agreement, in writing, to the sellers for their signature

Learning Opportunity:

Written service agreements cannot be extended after they have already expired. When agreements expire, they are void, and a new agreement will have to be entered into should the parties want to continue working together. Written service agreements must have all relevant signatures on the agreement and have all amendments documented and signed. Licensees must prepare documents that are legally binding. To be legally binding, all parties to the transaction must agree to contract amendments in writing. In this case, the licensee failed to provide a written amendment to extend their agreement to the sellers. Licensees must take no action until they have the written agreement from all their clients who are a party to a trade.

Real Estate Act Rules s.53(a)

A real estate licensee must only trade in real estate in the name, and
brokerage to which they are registered.

1. John Doe

Real estate associate registered with BGB Realty Inc. o/a Re/Max Realty Professionals

  • John placed an advertisement on multiple bus benches.
  • The advertisement only listed partial licensee names of “Sam and Tam”

Learning Opportunity:

Licensees must clearly indicate their name and brokerage name in all advertising. Licensees must trade only in the name that appears on their license. The name must include both first and last name and cannot differ in spelling or length unless the licensee has registered the appropriate AKA name with RECA. Using the full name of the licensee ensures consumers are clear about who they are dealing with, and can successfully perform a license search on RECA’s Find a Licensee tool. In this case, the licensee failed to advertise in their full name as it appears on their license.

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