Ontario needs to overhaul its real estate regulator to better safeguard the interests of homebuyers and sellers alike
The AGO report said the Real Estate Council of Ontario , the agency responsible for regulating the provincial industry, is not fulfilling its mandate to protect the consumers’ interests. “The activities RECO performs … are not always effective and timely,” it concluded.Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
RECO imposes fines for those found guilty of fraudulent behaviour, but they appear to be an insufficient deterrent. The average fine was $8,273, which is significantly less than the average commission earned on a residential transaction in large cities. It is estimated that 67 per cent of the violators that were fined were not required to take any remedial measures, such as further training or education.
Similarly, Humber College, the institution that administers mandatory training and courses for aspiring realtors, reported 356 cases of large-scale deliberate and organized academic misconduct during examinations conducted in 2021, but not much was done by RECO to investigate them. RECO’s mandate is to regulate Ontario’s real estate sector, but it lacks the processes to deliver. For example, even though a 2014 regulation requires brokerages to keep all copies of written offers for a year, RECO does not collect data from brokerages to identify any fake bids, nor how much a homebuyer paid above the second-highest bid.Article content
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ontario needs to overhaul its real estate regulator to safeguard the interests of homebuyers and sellersAuditor general finds Real Estate Council of Ontario is not fulfilling its mandate to protect interests of homebuyers and sellers. Read more
Read more »
Ontario needs to overhaul its real estate regulator to safeguard the interests of homebuyers and sellersAuditor general finds Real Estate Council of Ontario is not fulfilling its mandate to protect interests of homebuyers and sellers. Read more
Read more »
Ontario Health Coalition holding marches Monday outside three major Ontario hospitalsA province-wide organization that advocates for publicly funded health care is holding marches across Ontario today to protest the Ford government’s handling of the hospital crisis.
Read more »
Ontario government reaches tentative deal with Ontario Council of Educational WorkersProvincial government strikes deal with OCEW, made up of six unions representing thousands of workers at public and catholic school boards across the province, including educational resource facilitators and maintenance and construction workers
Read more »
Ontario government reaches tentative deal with Ontario Council of Educational WorkersThe Ontario government has reached a tentative deal with school staff represented by the Ontario Council of Educational Workers.
Read more »
Ontario government reaches tentative deal with Ontario Council of Educational WorkersOCEW issued a statement saying the deal was reached after multiple days of negotiations between the bargaining council, the Council of Trustees’ Association and the province.
Read more »