The City of Surrey has started to share information with the Board’s Professional Standards department on FVREB members who have real estate signage displayed which does not comply with local sign by-laws. These notifications allow the Board to register formal complaints against members who are expected to be familiar with and comply with municipal by-laws and rigorously enforce this requirement.
Real estate signs generate frequent complaints, from members, the public and municipalities alike. To help improve the situation, Board staff met with staff from the City of Surrey in 2018 to clarify the regulations and process for removal.
Highlights from the meeting with the City of Surrey:
- We received confirmation from the City on what the exact requirements are for real estate signs and this information was shared with all members in this NewsReal article.
- The City updated their online brochure on real estate signage to include a statement clarifying that, “Open House signs (e. g. directional signs, A-frame) are only permitted on the day of an Open House, 2 hours prior to the commencement of the Open House.” The updated brochure can be found on this page.
- The City started to share information on Fraser Valley Board members who have violated signage by-laws and have had their real estate signs removed or flagged in fall 2018. The Professional Standards team can now follow-up with these members as necessary.
What this means for you:
Now that the City of Surrey is reporting signage violations each month to the Board, the Professional Standards department is treating that notification as a formal complaint being registered against a member under the revised Rules of Cooperation.
Rules of Cooperation, 8.01 Advertising – General, states, “members must ensure that any signage is in compliance with all local government signage regulations.”
In the near future, Board staff plan to meet with staff from the other Fraser Valley municipalities to request the same information on real estate signage so the Board can help to ensure members are following local sign by-law requirements in all seven municipalities in our Board area. Each municipality has their own signage by-laws and you are expected to be aware of and comply with those rules.