OACIQ responds to Finance Minister’s brief

You may remember back in June, when the Quebec Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão tabled his report on the application of the Real Estate Brokerage Act. In case you don’t, you can read our summary here.

The report posed many questions that raised key issues such as whether or not the notion of “brokerage transaction” needs to be defined and questions about the self-governance of the Organisme d’autorégulation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ).

The OACIQ has recently tabled its own brief in which it responds to some issues raised by the Minister of Finance, as well as brings up other points that were not mentioned in the Minister’s report.

Defining “brokerage transaction”

In the report, the OACIQ affirms the importance of consumer protection when it comes to real estate services, regardless of the cope of the service offered. It’s therefore important to note the activities for which the Real Estate Brokerage Act (REBA) in question provides protection. "As shown in the Organization's brief, the members of public need to know when they are protected in a real estate or mortgage transaction and when they are not", says Robert Nadeau, president and chief executive officer of the OACIQ.

It’s the belief of the OACIQ that a clear definition will provide the public with increased protection and it will prevent an increasing range of services similar to those offered by brokers, but that attempt to operate outside OACIQ’s governance.

Self-regulation

In the Minister’s June report, he stated that self-regulation has its limits and is subject to criticism, mentioning the OACIQ’s ad campaign about the benefits of using realtors.

In the OACIQ’s brief, they point out the success of its own governance, and that the reasoning behind the minister’s arguments to change the governance model was difficult to grasp.

The brief points out that its self-regulation offers several advantages. For one, self-regulation allows the OACIQ to draw on the knowledge and know-how of the professionals concerned, and better understand the issues in order to better protect the public. The brief notes that the OACIQ was quite successful with regards to its mission to protect the public in real estate and mortgage brokerage dealings.

However, despite its success, the OACIQ is aware that there is always room for improvement, and that changes must frequently be made to adapt to the ever-changing realm of real estate and its governance practices. They are therefore not opposed to the addition of directors appointed by the Finance Minister, as suggested in the Minister’s report in June. They also encourage better communication between stakeholders and mortgage brokerages so that the consumer and the broker can be aware of each other’s roles.

Additional topics

As previously mentioned, the OACIQ brought up topics that were not discussed in the Minister report back in June, most notably the need to oversee building inspections and co-ownership management. Many transactions are dependent upon the intervention of inspectors and managers. The absence of these bodies may result in one of the parties feeling vulnerable. Through the OACIQ governance, they could guarantee the competence and standardization of building inspectors and managers of co-ownership properties.

With their brief, the OACIQ hopes to make positive contributions to the Finance Minister’s report and make necessary improvements to both the Real Estate Brokers Association (REBA) and the OACIQ. Of course, more discussion is needed, but for now, it doesn’t look like the world of real estate will be changing anytime soon.

Read the full report here.

Main image credit: Flickr user American Advisors Group via a Creative Commons Licence