Province to End Self Regulation in Real Estate
Prince George, B.C. – Premier Christy Clark has announced her government will bring an end to self -regulation in the real estate industry and overhaul governance, oversight, transparency and accountability of the sector.The decision follows the release of a report prepared by an independent advisory group for the BC Real Estate Council.
Among its recommendations, the report called for stiff fines of up to $250 thousand dollars for agents who don’t follow the rules, and an end to agents acting for both the buyer and seller.
“After reading the report, our conclusion is that the privilege of self-regulation in the real estate industry must end,” Premier Christy Clark said. “This report examines shady practices and challenges plaguing the real estate market, particularly in the Lower Mainland, putting consumers at risk and tarnishing the reputations of honest professionals in the sector. We will act to protect British Columbians when they are making one of their most important family investments –
purchasing a home.”
She says the Government accepts the recommendations of the independent advisory group and will:
* Establish a dedicated superintendent of real estate, who will take over the council’s regulation- and rule-making authority to carry out the changes required to restore public confidence.
* Reconstitute the Real Estate Council with a majority of public- interest, non-industry members.
* Implement the recommended penalties, as well as increased fines for unlicensed activity and other offences.
* Allow for commissions from licensees engaging in misconduct to be taken back to the council.
* Make the managing broker responsible for ensuring the owner of the brokerage does not engage in the business of the brokerage if the owner is not a licensee.
* No longer permit licensees to offer dual agency representation.
The changes could come soon says Finance Minister Michael de Jong “We are working on legislation that will expand the powers of the superintendent of real estate to address these issues, ensure appropriate public representation on the
board, and implement higher disciplinary and administrative penalties.”
Comments
So, Christy Clark realized that real estate agents were becoming “crooked” due to self regulation… Is this not the same issue that we have with politicians and Senators??
Where is the legislation to keep the politicians in line?
About time!!! The housing market, particularly in the BC lower mainland, was completely out of control, house flipping and the greed, greed, greed, for more profit and money has seen house and property prices skyrocket to unimaginable and perposterous levels.
Now if the rest of us can only see that regulating industry to a certain point is beneficial to the public and customer good as well. Just another example of right wing “let the market regulate itself” ideology not matching up to reality!
The times of the Neo-Cons and Libs is over, more than a decade as produced a low interest rate, stagnating economy with little to no job growth. Give those mega-corporations break and all the money will trickle down in the form of industry growth and jobs… yet we got nada, zip, ziltch, zero in return. Those corporations just shipped all those profits into off-shore tax free shelters. Thanks for nothing!!!
When was the last time you ever saw anyone build a new factory or engage in modernising any other kind of industry to purposefully create something that was LESS productive per man hour worked than what it was replacing?
Yet that’s exactly what you’re calling for when you keep insisting that ‘corporations’ should have creating jobs as the primary reason for existing.
Why don’t you people on the ‘left’, as well as a good many of your counterparts on the ‘right’, and in the middle, wake up to the fact that having ‘jobs’ as the only means to distribute incomes is a process doomed to failure?
You cannot possibly have ever greater ‘productivity’ and at the same time be ‘increasing’ employment.
For one thing, even if this were somehow possible, the collective total of all incomes distributed in any given period will never add up to the total costs that have to be liquidated through prices generated in that SAME given period.
So even if you had 100% full employment, at whatever bloated level of wage you think should be paid to anyone, you still could never buy everything you’ve produced from those earned incomes alone.
You rail against ‘conservatives’, but when it come to looking at anything to do with the realities of the current financial system those on the ‘left’ have to be the most hideously ‘conservative’ beings imaginable.
Real estate agents are ales men…say what you want to hear to make them money.. What they do for what they charge is outrageous.. They also buy up the super deals for themselves…that is wrong..
Fox guarding hen house
The strange thing is that the Securities, Mutual fund, and Life Insurance businesses have always been self regulating!
The difference is that the regulators in those industries are mandated by their own members to look after the public interest first, and the members second.
That is why you have seen unscrupulous securities dealers weeded out publicly, and mercilessly. In the case of the Real Estate industry it seems that they didn’t know how to handle self regulation. In the past there was a Superintendent of Brokers that was tasked with ensuring the public interest, when the industry went to self regulation their so called regulators became nothing more than cheerleaders for the industry, and were for the most part unwilling to expose the sordid underbelly of how Realtors do business. The return to public regulation of the industry will shine a bright spot light on these unscrupulous Realtors and their agencies!
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