Province says B.C.'s new real-estate watchdog coming this fall
The provincial government is moving on an overhaul of real-estate industry regulations it initiated earlier this summer.
“Self-regulation is very much a privilege,” Premier Christy Clark said at a June 29 press conference. “The real-estate sector has had 10 years to get it right on self-regulation, and they haven’t. And so we are going to end the right of the real-estate sector to self-regulate.”
Now, the Ministry of Finance has said some key reforms, including the selection of a new superintendent who will oversee further changes, will be in place early this fall.
According to an August 28 report in the Globe and Mail, the provincial government has begun interviewing candidates for the lead position. Once a successful applicant is selected, they will have the authority to initiate investigations and to create new rules for real-estate agents operating in B.C.
Meanwhile, the Real Estate Council of B.C. is working with the province to hire a new executive officer, two new investigators, and a liaison who will be tasked with maintaining relations with the public.
The province’s June 29 announcement was made in response to a report on B.C.’s real-estate sector that details a wide range of abuses and misconduct within the industry.
An independent panel found that some agents were failing to represent the best interests of their clients, not complying with provincial and federal tax laws and anti-money-laundering regulations, and engaging in contract assignments for personal gain (commonly known as shadow flipping).
The appointment of a new superintendent is part of the government’s effort to implement 28 recommendations for reforms included in that document.
Other recommendations include, for example, increasing fines for misconduct from a maximum of $10,000 per offence to $250,000 for agents and $500,000 for brokerage firms. Those stiffer penalties are also scheduled for implementation in the near future.
The changes come as housing affordability looks set to be a key issue in the next provincial election scheduled for May 2017.
Over the last three years, the benchmark price for all residential properties in the region covered by the Real Estate Board of Great Vancouver increased by 48.3 percent.
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