Certification

A representative is necessary to a partnership or legal person that is a chartered real estate broker because the holder of the real estate broker’s certificate is the legal entity constituted by the partnership or legal person. The representative’s qualifications allow the legal entity to pursue the activity of broker and engage in brokerage transactions. But what happens if the representative himself wishes to engage in brokerage transactions as a real estate agent or an affiliated real estate broker? He is permitted to act as a chartered real estate agent or affiliated real estate broker on condition that he respects Section 63 of the By-law of the ACAIQ, which requires the representative to personally hold one of these certificates. This is simply one more example of the well-known principle of the legal and practical distinction between legal persons and natural persons.

Certificate renewal forms will be distributed at the beginning of November. Members who wish to maintain their certificate of practice into force must send the Association their duly completed renewal form and payment before December 15, 2004 for processing prior to January 1, 2005.

As in previous years, the applicant’s information will be pre-printed on the form. Applicants need only verify it for accuracy and indicate any changes that need to be made. You can also check the status of your certificate renewal online at www.acaiq.com.

Mortgage brokerage will continue, at least for the year 2005, to be governed by the Real Estate Brokerage Act. Consequently, any person or company carrying out real estate mortgage brokerage activities in 2005 will still have to hold a real estate broker or agent certificate issued by the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec.

In a notice issued in October, the ACAIQ notified its members that as January 1, 2005, the brokerage of loans secured by immovable hypothec would be removed from the field of application of the Real Estate Brokerage Act and come under the Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services. However, the Association has been notified that the transfer of mortgage brokerage from the ACAIQ to the Autorité des marchés financiers has been postponed by at least a year, i.e. to January 1, 2006.

A government executive order to this effect has been adopted.

A total of 11,265 certificates were renewed at the end of 2003, where the ACAIQ had 11,264 members at the beginning of the year. In addition, the number of candidates to the entrance examination increased by almost 20% this year. A total of 1,897 candidates took the affiliated agent examination and 205 wrote the chartered broker or agent examination. The success rates were 86.6% and 62% respectively.

This is a central requirement for an establishment:

A chartered real estate broker’s certificate may be issued to a legal person (a company), a partnership (an association of persons) or a natural person. A real estate broker which is a legal person or a partnership must be represented for purposes of applying the REBA by a person called the representative. Unlike a natural person who is a chartered real estate broker, a partnership or legal person cannot pass academic courses or acquire real estate brokerage experience. A natural person who is a real estate broker holds the certificate personally (in his own name), whereas a legal person or partnership receives a certificate through a natural person. This natural person is identified by the REBA as the representative.

We are not talking about a sales representative or a real estate agent who represents a broker, but a natural person who bears the title of representative for purposes of the REBA. The representative of a broker which is a partnership or legal person is obligatorily a natural person who has the qualifications required to be a holder of a real estate broker’s certificate. This is one of the first requirements stipulated by Section 7 of the REBA.

The REBA prescribes that every agent is assigned to an establishment and must report there.

In a memo issued on February 10, 2004, the ACAIQ informed its members that effective January 1, 2005, brokerage of loans secured by immovable hypothec will be removed from the field of application of the Real Estate Brokerage Act and come under the Act respecting the Distribution of Financial Products and Services.

Starting this month, the Professional Inspection Department offers startup sessions for all new chartered real estate brokers. These sessions are replacing the first inspection that used to be done at the broker’s establishment in the year his certificate was issued.

In order to provide beginning brokers with the tools and advice they need quickly, these startup sessions will be given to several brokers at once and will be facilitated by an inspector. These sessions will be given in an informal atmosphere using a format that promotes exchanges and focuses on real-life scenarios on these major themes: setting up and maintaining records and registers, managing trust accounts, conflicts of interest, disclosure notices to be completed before any commitment, disclosure of compensation agreements, and compensation methods.

All new brokers will be invited to attend a startup session, at their convenience, in lieu of what used to be the first inspection visit.

For more information on date availability, please contact the Professional Inspection Department at:(450) 462-9800, ext. 476 or 1 800 440-7170

One major finding has come out of the meeting between the management of Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec (ACAIQ), the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards and the twelve real estate boards, held in September to review the recommendations contained in Finance Minister Yves Séguin’s Report on the Application of the Real Estate Brokerage Act. All share a common position on the great majority of the government’s recommendations.