I recently went to see a condo, and the concierge asked to see my real estate salesperson’s “certificate” before we were permitted to access the building. Does this have something to do with new measures in place during the pandemic?
This is a common practice at condominiums. The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) Certificate of Registration is issued to individuals registered to trade as a salesperson or broker. It has no association with COVID-19 or the current state of emergency in the province.
In Ontario, individuals trading in real estate must be registered with RECO, the provincial regulator of the real estate industry. RECO administers the laws in Ontario’s real estate sector, on behalf of the government and in the public interest. The certificate helps protect consumers by providing a means of identification for registered real estate professionals.
Salespersons and brokers are expected to carry a printed card or use the MyRECO Certificate app that allows them to show their certificate on a mobile device, when requested.
Property management often request to see a certificate before allowing a salesperson and buyers access to view a property. Many residential buildings use the certificate as a security measure to verify that visitors to the unit are who they claim to be.
The Certificate of Registration also means you can rest assured your real estate rep meets the established standards for being registered and the protections that come along with that, including education and insurance.
Every real estate professional in Ontario must complete a specific education before they can become registered to trade in real estate. They must also complete additional courses every two years to keep their knowledge up-to-date.
They are also required to uphold professional standards of conduct and ethics with an emphasis on fairness, honesty and integrity. They must follow rules and regulations under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 that protect Ontario home buyers and sellers.
Registered salespersons and brokers are also held accountable for their actions in real estate transactions. In the instance that something goes wrong, RECO offers a complaint and discipline process designed to protect consumers.
Finally, as a condition of registration, all salespersons and brokers are required to have insurance coverage that protects both consumers and industry professionals, with payments held in trust and insured against loss, insolvency or misappropriation by a brokerage. Errors and Omissions Insurance provides an added layer of protection where damages and legal costs arise from errors, omissions and negligent acts that may occur while trading in real estate.
Another way to confirm a real estate professional’s registration is by visiting www.reco.on.ca and clicking on the Real Estate Professional Search bar.
If you have a question about the home buying or selling process, please email information@reco.on.ca.
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TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
