The Real Estate Development and Marketing Act is provincial legislation intended to protect consumers.

It requires that developers meet certain disclosure requirements and have sufficient financing in place to ensure that presales will be delivered to consumers.

But in the midst of a pandemic, developers are going to have trouble meeting the nine-month timeline in the act for marketing a property after a disclosure statement is filed.

So the province has amended the rules to provide a 12-month window for documents filed from April 17 to July 17.

This was revealed in the latest bulletin from the rennie intelligence team. (Yes, it's written in lower-case letters.)

"Additionally, a development property marketed under a disclosure statement filed under REDMA from June 17, 2019 to April 16, 2020 can also be marketed for up to 12 months if an amendment is filed," the bulletin adds.

The act allows the superintendent of real estate to exempt people, land lots, and transactions from the requirements in specified areas.

A list of the exemptions that have been granted is available on the B.C. government's website.

The rennie intelligence team's bulletin also reported that the Township of Langley has waived requirements for public hearings for development applications that are consistent with the official community plan.

"This is intended to expedite new housing supply," it stated.