BCREA staff will be facilitating a consultation with Fraser Valley Brokers on the implementation of the Independent Advisory Group’s (IAG) recommendations. Click here for an analysis of the IAG recommendations, status and potential impacts on Brokers, REALTORS® and consumers from BCREA.
- Please confirm that you are available to attend a meeting in the Board Auditorium on Tuesday, August 30 (lunch at 12 noon, meeting at 12:30 pm).
- RSVP to Darcie at 604-930-7604 as soon as possible.
The session will be lead by Damian Stathonikos, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, BCREA.
Our profession has been under intense, unrelenting scrutiny for more than a year. What started out as concern for housing affordability has evolved into significant changes to the regulatory regime and a long list of recommendations to change practices and improve consumer protection.
On June 28, the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) made 28 recommendations covering four areas: transparency and ethics; compliance and consequences; governance and structure; and licensee and public education.
The next day, the BC Government announced that it would end self-regulation for the real estate sector and, on July 29, changes to the Real Estate Services Act paved the way. An end to self-regulation means that, once the changes take effect, the new, dedicated Superintendent of Real Estate will have more oversight of the Real Estate Council of BC, and most members of the Council will not be real estate practitioners.
Organized real estate has been actively advocating for REALTORS®, meeting with and writing to MLAs and government staff, presenting to the Independent Advisory Group, working with the Real Estate Council of BC as closely as possible, and now consulting with brokers.
The new Superintendent of Real Estate will be appointed soon, and that office will have the authority to create and amend rules that pertain to real estate licensees, authority that right now rests with the Council. Many of the IAG recommendations will be implemented either by rules or policies, and so it’s critical that organized real estate be prepared with solutions to ensure that unintended negative consequences are avoided.
The feedback you and your colleagues provide will help shape our profession’s submission to the Superintendent of Real Estate, the Real Estate Council of BC and the BC Minister of Finance.