“Corrupt Realtors Should Face Higher Fines” Says Ontario Real Estate Association
Real estate agents in Ontario are giving reasonable reasons as to why corrupt realtors should face higher fines. They believe the current fine imposed on unethical realtors is too not enough because it sets the bar too low for people to qualify to be a real estate agent and to remain in the profession.
The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), says higher fines and tougher penalties should be imposed and added to the agenda due to the province’s upcoming reform plan to review rules governing realtors in Ontario and to make housing more affordable in Ontario.
Tim Hudak, Chief Executive Officer of OREA said after he became CEO, he met with OREA’s 39 member organizations in communities across Ontario, and the biggest complaint was with the industry’s continuing-education program run by RECO. It is a mandatory refresher program that licensed realtors must complete every two years through an online portal.
Mr. Hudak said people can get others to do the course for them and can get all the answers wrong and still continue working because there is no meaningful testing.
“The current continuing-education program in the province is seen by realtors as a joke … In the past we should have been more aggressive in pushing for higher standards in the continuing education program, and now we are,” he said.
Mr. Hudak said OREA will also lobby for tougher education and qualification standards for people entering the profession. “The philosophy that we’re implementing here at OREA is that it’s too easy to get into the profession and too hard to get kicked out,” he said.
OREA’s mounting activism comes as the Ontario government prepares to launch a review of the Real Estate and Business Broker Act, which governs the conduct of realtors in Ontario. It was enacted in 2002, when Mr. Hudak was consumer affairs minister under the Conservative government of Mike Harris.
Although Mr. Hudak helped craft the existing rules, he said the act is now out of date and was crafted at a time when the real estate industry operated differently. There was no use of social media in 2002, he notes, and practices such as the controversial use of escalation clauses to automatically top the highest bid on a house had not come to
Mr. Hudak said after he became CEO, he met with OREA’s 39 member organizations in communities across Ontario, and the biggest complaint was with the industry’s continuing-education program run by RECO. It is a mandatory refresher program that licensed realtors must complete every two years through an online portal.
Mr. Hudak said OREA will also lobby for tougher education and qualification standards for people entering the profession. “The philosophy that we’re implementing here at OREA is that it’s too easy to get into the profession and too hard to get kicked out,” he said.
OREA’s mounting activism comes as the Ontario government prepares to launch a review of the Real Estate and Business Broker Act, which governs the conduct of realtors in Ontario. It was enacted in 2002, when Mr. Hudak was consumer affairs minister under the Conservative government of Mike Harris.
Although Mr. Hudak helped craft the existing rules, he said the act is now out of date and was crafted at a time when the real estate industry operated differently. There was no use of social media in 2002, he notes, and practices such as the controversial use of escalation clauses to automatically top the highest bid on a house had not come to Ontario.
