The Ontario Real Estate Association forwarded the following information to all members on March 19.
Re: Bill 55, the Stronger Protection for Ontario Consumers Act, 2013.
On July 1st, 2015, Ontario Regulation (307/14), which implements amendments made to the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (“REBBA”) under Bill 55, will come into force. These changes are intended to address the issue of “phantom offers” in the real estate marketplace.
What REALTORS® Need to Know
Bill 55 introduced a number of changes to REBBA which created new requirements for real estate registrants. Most notably:
- Bill 55 prohibits a registrant working on behalf of a purchaser from presenting or representing an offer unless the offer is in writing.
- Bill 55 requires that the selling brokerage must retain copies of all written offers that it receives to purchase real estate or copies of all other prescribed documents related to those offers.
Ontario Regulation (307/14) outlines the required information that must be contained in a ‘prescribed document’ and states that the selling brokerage must retain a copy of the document or a copy of the written offer for a period of one year after receiving the written offer.
The OREA Standard Forms Committee will discuss Bill 55 compliance for brokerages and REALTORS® at its spring meeting and design a new standard form to help REALTORS® comply with Bill 55 and Ontario Regulation 307/14. It is anticipated this form will be released prior to Bill 55 coming into effect on July 1, 2015.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email standardforms@orea.com.