A Bill with a component to protect buyers and sellers through Bill 92, An Act to amend various provisions mainly in the financial sector.
To deter brokers and agencies from violating their ethics, fines related to violations will be increased:
- For real-estate brokers, they are liable to a fine increased from $2500 to $62,500 per violation. They would increase from $2,500 to $62,500.
- For real-estate agencies, they could be ordered to pay $3,500 to $125,000 per offence. In the event of a repeat offence, the bill would allow fines to be doubled.
Mr. Girard, Minister of Finance of Québec, also included an addition related to the criminal pasts of real-estate brokers. “The Bill allows the Organisme d'autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) to refuse to issue a licence, suspend it, and revoke it if the persons and companies subject to the Real Estate Brokerage Act do not, in his opinion, have the necessary probity to carry on their activity," Minister Girard told the National Assembly.
Currently, if a broker is charged with serious criminal offences unrelated to his or her profession, he or she retains his or her real-estate broker's licence. However, with Bill 92, the OACIQ will be able to not issue a licence, suspend it or revoke it.
Also, all offences of real-estate brokers under the Real Estate Brokerage Act or its regulations. Instead of appearing before the OACIQ Discipline Committee, the real-estate broker would be summoned to the Court of Québec, penal division. It will be up to the OACIQ syndic to decide whether to file his complaint with the Discipline Committee or with the Court of Québec, Criminal Division.
Finally, conflicts of interest will be more penalized. When a real-estate broker puts himself in a position where his judgement could be impaired, i.e., in a conflict of interest, and he does not disclose it to his client, the Discipline Committee will automatically impose a fine of $2500.
A regulation to come in addition to the Bill
The Minister of Finance also intends to create a title of real-estate broker specializing in co-ownership, explains Nadine Lindsay, because it is a more complex real-estate transaction currently in Quebec with an aging stock and nearly 40% of co-ownerships that do not have sufficient contingency funds.
The government would like to adopt a regulation to create this specialist title, which will require additional training.
To deter brokers and agencies from violating their ethics, fines related to violations will be increased:
- For real-estate brokers, they are liable to a fine increased from $2500 to $62,500 per violation. They would increase from $2,500 to $62,500.
- For real-estate agencies, they could be ordered to pay $3,500 to $125,000 per offence. In the event of a repeat offence, the bill would allow fines to be doubled.
Mr. Girard, Minister of Finance of Québec, also included an addition related to the criminal pasts of real-estate brokers. “The Bill allows the Organisme d'autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) to refuse to issue a licence, suspend it, and revoke it if the persons and companies subject to the Real Estate Brokerage Act do not, in his opinion, have the necessary probity to carry on their activity," Minister Girard told the National Assembly.
Currently, if a broker is charged with serious criminal offences unrelated to his or her profession, he or she retains his or her real-estate broker's licence. However, with Bill 92, the OACIQ will be able to not issue a licence, suspend it or revoke it.
Also, all offences of real-estate brokers under the Real Estate Brokerage Act or its regulations. Instead of appearing before the OACIQ Discipline Committee, the real-estate broker would be summoned to the Court of Québec, penal division. It will be up to the OACIQ syndic to decide whether to file his complaint with the Discipline Committee or with the Court of Québec, Criminal Division.
Finally, conflicts of interest will be more penalized. When a real-estate broker puts himself in a position where his judgement could be impaired, i.e., in a conflict of interest, and he does not disclose it to his client, the Discipline Committee will automatically impose a fine of $2500.
A regulation to come in addition to the Bill
The Minister of Finance also intends to create a title of real-estate broker specializing in co-ownership, explains Nadine Lindsay, because it is a more complex real-estate transaction currently in Quebec with an aging stock and nearly 40% of co-ownerships that do not have sufficient contingency funds.
The government would like to adopt a regulation to create this specialist title, which will require additional training.