IMPORTANT UPDATE ON SUPERINTENDENT?S RULE CHANGES
BC Government
other
In November 2017, the Superintendent of Real Estate approved new rules to come into force on March 15, 2018. The new rules focus on two major areas:
- prohibiting the practice of dual agency, except in remote and under-served locations, and
- enhancing consumer education and awareness by increasing mandatory licensee disclosures regarding representation and remuneration.
The Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE) is aware of the considerable concern from industry surrounding the implementation of the new rules and the impending implementation date. We are listening and are committed to ensuring a successful implementation of the new rules and ensuring that licensees have necessary information regarding the rules before they come into force. To this end, we would like to provide licensees with the following update.
- Date Change – New rules related to dual agency and enhanced consumer disclosures will now come into force June 15, 2018.
While the Real Estate Council has been working diligently to implement the new rules, it is clear that additional time would ensure a more successful roll out of the upcoming changes. Therefore, the Superintendent is amending the effective date of the rules related to dual agency and consumer disclosures from March 15, 2018 to June 15, 2018. This will allow education on the new rules to be in place prior to their coming into force.
- Education for Licensees and Clarification of Rule Intent
In addition to the change in implementation date, OSRE intends to publish a package of rules for consultation in the coming weeks to protect the interests of consumers and to ensure stability within the industry.
Clarity to licensees on how to handle conflicts of interests involving clients
Licensees require clarity on how conflicts of interest related to client representation must be addressed. In ending dual agency, it was OSRE’s intent that a licensee be able to continue to work with only one party to the trade in real estate where there is a conflict relating to client representation – as long as they receive consent from all parties involved in the transaction. A new rule will be drafted to support this approach, which will strengthen consumer protection.
Continuing professional education for licensees
We will be proposing a new rule to ensure licensees receive continuing professional education related to significant new rule changes and as other circumstances arise when it is in the public and professional interest to do so. The first course established under this rule is currently being developed by the Real Estate Council. Council has advised us that this course will be available this Spring.
Additional Rules: Language Proficiency Requirements and Disclosure of Remuneration to Sellers
In addition to the significant changes identified above, the new rule package will enshrine the Real Estate Council’s English language proficiency requirements into the rules and will provide clarification that the 5-11.1 disclosure of remuneration to sellers must include dollar amounts.
The proposed rules will be posted for a 30 day public consultation in the coming weeks on the OSRE website at www.gov.bc.ca/OSRE. Licensees will be notified directly when the consultation is open.
As a regulator working in the public interest, protecting consumers is OSRE’s top priority and is at the core of our mandate. The rules related to dual agency and enhanced consumer disclosures were written with this consumer protection focus, and with specific intent. The measures we are taking today will help ensure they are interpreted and implemented in a manner that reflects this intent.
Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate