BC’S UNHEARD REALTORS In September 2017, British Columbia’s Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate asked 25,000 Realtors to fill out an online survey related to the proposed changes to real estate practices in the province, including an end to limited dual agency. Despite the overwhelmingly negative response from Realtors (as shown in the graph below), OSRE moved forward with the ban. The feedback that accompanied the survey seemed to indicate that OSRE was finished listening to the industry. Do you support the ban on limited dual agency?
62.6%
60.4% 34.7%
32.1% 5.3% 4.9%
Yes Public
No
Don’t know
Licensed agents Source: Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate
The reason behind the concern is obvious. A Realtor who has been working a market of 10,000 residents for 20 years will conceivably know enough of the population to make avoiding dual agency impossible. Where will
with an unknown agent in a neighbouring community, one who may “know nothing about the local area, the bylaws, the zoning, the environmental issues. Is that in the consumer’s best interest? Of course it isn’t.”
“[OSRE] says it’s better to give [the public] the right to choose, but the reality is limited dual agency is the right to choose” Darren Close, Kootenay Real Estate Board that Realtor find both a buyer and a seller with whom he has had absolutely no contact? If dual recusal makes local agents unavailable, many wonder where buyers and sellers will find their next real estate agent. Ash concludes that they will be forced to align
Ash feels the outright ban on limited dual agency is the result of OSRE hiring a superintendent with no experience in the industry. “I’m sure [Superintendent] Michael Noseworthy is a wonderful fellow who moved from Newfoundland to take this job,” he says,
“but I don’t think he has any experience with real estate brokerage or any clear understanding of how it operates or how it has operated for 50 years.” OSRE’s response to the controversy has been limited and at times condescending. “We’re here to serve the public and not the industry,” OSRE’s Mykle Ludvigsen told the Columbia Valley Pioneer. “There are 35,000 Realtors in the province of BC, and I’m certain that they will find a way to manage this.” But if talented and experienced Realtors are forced to break long-standing ties with a satisfied client base – or are forced out of the industry altogether – who exactly is being protected? “Unless there are some significant changes to the proposed rules,” Close says, “it’s going to be devastating to a lot of professional Realtors.” REP
www.repmag.ca
11