Websites that find people who are interested in buying, renting, or selling real estate, and that refer those people to licensees for a fee, are soliciting for the
purpose of providing real estate services.
This week a good government group sued Suffolk over similar fee hikes, saying the money was intended to fill a general budget hole rather than cover the
cost of providing real estate services.
A licensee who is providing trading services to another licensee in the brokerage who is acquiring or disposing of real estate, does not fall within the meaning of the
definition of providing real estate services to an «associate» and therefore is not required to make the disclosure as required by section 5 - 9 of the Rules, as long as the licensee is not purchasing the property indirectly through another licensee in his office.
Since licensing is
required of those providing real estate services «to or on behalf of another, for or in expectation of remuneration», licensing and the other requirements of RESA do not apply to strata council members who are not licensees and who volunteer their time.
That is not to say however, that real estate salepeople can not refer to
themselves of providing real estate service in a professional and ethical manner.
Section 4 - 5 of the Rules states that a licensee must ensure that their licensee name is clearly indicated in the course
of providing real estate services.
A personal real estate corporation must ensure that its licensee name is clearly indicated in the course
of providing real estate services, including all forms of advertising.
4 - 5 (1) A licensee must ensure that their licensee name is clearly indicated in the course
of providing real estate services.
(2) In addition to the obligation under subsection (1), a managing broker, associate broker or representative must clearly indicate the licensee name of their related brokerage in the course
of providing real estate services.
(2) If, during the course
of providing real estate services, there is any substantive change in information that the licensee is required to disclose to a person under this Division, the licensee must promptly disclose the change to the person in accordance with subsection (1).
RESA and the Rules set out a number of duties that a representative must meet in the course
of providing real estate services.
Both the common law and section 5 - 11 of the Rules require that a licensee must disclose to a client remuneration received as a result
of providing real estate services to or on behalf of a client, whenever that remuneration is not paid directly by that client.
Eileen's obligation, both at common law and as described in section 5 - 11 (1) of the Rules, is to disclose to her client Dave remuneration she has received as a result
of providing real estate services to or on behalf of him, when that remuneration has been paid by someone other than Dave.
Make sure that you're not paying for referrals from any unlicensed lead generation services whose main business is soliciting for the purpose
of providing real estate services.
If, during the course
of providing real estate services, there is any substantive change to the nature of the licensee's representation, the licensee must promptly disclose the change in writing as well.