The CRTC has informed CREA that they are increasing enforcement of the national Do Not Call List (DNCL) as it relates to the real estate industry.
Please review your procedures and office policy today to avoid significant financial penalties.
Here are a few reminders if you or your office calls or sends faxes to solicit business:
- Your brokerage must register as a telemarketer and subscribe to the national Do Not Call List (DNCL), and not individual members who may be making the calls or sending faxes. You can register at https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/ind/insorg-regorg-eng.
- Your brokerage must (subject to limited exemptions) purchase a subscription for the area codes you or your members intend to contact. It is the responsibility of your office to ensure that you and your members have access to the most up-to-date version of the national DNCL and that those numbers are removed from any calling lists.
- Your brokerage must also maintain an internal do-not-call list. If a consumer says they do not wish to be contacted, their name and number must be added to this internal do not call list.
- If you or your office hires a third party service provider to help manage telemarketing activities, your brokerage still needs to register with the DNCL operator and subscribe to the national DNCL.
The CRTC issued an administrative monetary penalty of $260,000 to third party service provider Telelisting, in January 2015. Telelisting obtained and disclosed contents of the National DNCL to their clients, a violation of CRTC’s Telecommunications Rules. An investigation by the CRTC could also result in monetary penalties to brokerages who were clients of Telelisting.
For more information about the DNCL, visit CREA’s Do Not Call page on REALTOR Link®.