Consolidation of legal-software providers will hit consumers with higher costs
TORONTO, Feb. 1, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ – Real estate lawyers are facing the prospect of soaring costs that will be passed onto their customers amid a consolidation trend that is disrupting the legal software industry.
Real estate lawyers and their consumer clients can expect transaction costs to rise as the number of software providers in Canada declines. The recent acquisition by Dye and Durham of DoProcess, one of Canada’s leading providers of real-estate practice software, is a case in point, says veteran real-estate lawyer Maurizio Romanin, president of Toronto-based software company LawyerDoneDeal (LDD).
“We have been inundated with inquiries and new subscription requests by unhappy lawyers who are alarmed by the fact that they will face a significant jump in their per-transaction software costs and the impact this will have on fees in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” says Romanin. “What we are hearing personally and witnessing online in reaction reflects an unmistakable level of dismay and anger.”
The recent D&D acquisition will see transaction fees ultimately borne by the consumer jump to $129 from $25 – a 500% increase. The rising cost of software services amid consolidation, however, will also have a significant impact on what consumers ultimately pay when buying or selling real estate.
Romanin warns that legal firms should tread carefully in choosing their software service providers as costs rise. They should also ensure that they can take confidential client data with them if they choose to switch providers, a significant issue many lawyers are now facing. Consumers, he adds, should be vigilant and query their legal professionals to justify disbursements being passed through to them.
“Costs to legal firms and their clients will continue to rise as consolidation among big players continues and our advice is to be very clear on what you are paying for and why. Don’t hesitate to push back on rising costs and fees,” Romanin says.
“We process among the highest volume of residential real-estate closings in Ontario and we are dedicated to providing value in the services we deliver,” says Toronto real estate lawyer Stephen Shub, “but consolidation will continue to have an impact on the industry’s options and costs – and the value we can bring to clients as their transaction fees rise. We use LawyerDoneDeal’s web-based application RealtiWEB and believe it is a superior product to what is offered by D&D.”
“Hiking up software costs and fees charged to consumers is completely unwarranted in today’s marketplace,” says Toronto lawyer Bob Aaron of law firm Aaron and Aaron. “Independent players, such as LawyerDoneDeal, tend to be more in tune with the needs of our profession, offering what I believe to be the gold standard in real estate conveyancing software. That’s opposed to consolidators such as D&D who pursue monopolistic agendas without any impetus for innovation in their software.”
SOURCE Lawyer Done Deal
For further information: Media contact: Tobias Sallewsky, Vice President, LawyerDoneDeal Corp., [email protected], 416-367-0600 ext. 406
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.
