Certification

Last April, Immix International and its President, Bruno Grondin, a former real estate agent, were found guilty under seven counts of accusation of using the titles of chartered real estate broker and affiliated real estate agent respectively on their signs and business cards without having the necessary certificate of practice. Judge Jean-Charles Hamelin sentenced the firm to a $3,000 fine and its President to a $2,000 fine for a total with fees of $5,812. The offenders, who worked in the Lower Laurentians region, did not show up at their trial.

A real estate or mortgage broker whose licence is suspended or revoked is no longer authorized to practice his profession or carry out brokerage transactions. He must cease any real estate or mortgage brokerage-related activity.

PRACTICE

From January to July 2004, Denis Talbot, a former real estate agent who had not renewed his certificate expired on December 31, 2003, performed various real estate brokerage acts by acting as intermediary in the sale of one of his friends’ property.

In the course of their activities, some real estate brokers act as intermediaries for the short-term rental of cottages, houses or apartments. Considering their duty to verify, inform and advise, these brokers would be well-advised to know the ins and outs of the Act respecting Tourist Accommodation Establishments.

All real estate brokerage forms published by the ACAIQ are available now via the Extranet on the acaiq.com Web site, at the attractive cost of $79 per annual subscription. The introduction of the “ACAIQ Forms” online service coincided with the launch of the Association’s Extranet, a cyberspace for the exclusive use of real estate brokerage certificate holders. In addition to e-forms, the site will feature various member services as well as an e-Store, the details of which will follow shortly.

Developed jointly with Telus Business Solutions, “ACAIQ Forms” will enable users to generate forms based on their needs, to enter information in the appropriate fields and to save the forms on their own computer or a server. They can also modify, email and print the forms in an unlimited number of copies, on the paper of their choice.

E-forms are automatically personalized with the user’s name, enabling brokers and agents to present high-quality documents to their clients. This software provides significant savings compared to the current cost of traditional forms.

“ACAIQ Forms” uses Windows, Acrobat Approval and Explorer 5.0 technologies. It can be used in one of two ways: the Connected version requires a permanent Internet connection and the installation of Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free software package; the Standalone version requires the installation of Adobe Acrobat Approval software, which is not free but, in addition to the functions of the Connected version, allows you to save a form being edited locally on a workstation, to modify it, duplicate it or simply print it without an Internet connection.

An affiliated agent who became a broker on May 1 may act on his own account only once he meets certain qualification requirements; the main ones of these are listed below. Two situations can occur:

• Affiliated agent who became a broker without having begun the chartered broker’s course prior to May 1, 2010;
• Affiliated agent who became a real estate broker AND completed or began the chartered broker’s course prior to May 1, 2010.

Me Claude Barsalou, Secretary of the ACAIQ, announces that the Board of Directors will soon have to vote on amendments proposed to the By-law of the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec. These amendments are aimed at clarifying the terms and conditions under which certificates are issued, renewed, cancelled or reinstated in cases where a person has been found guilty or has pleaded guilty to a criminal offence that may be related to the activity of chartered real estate broker in the five years preceding the application, unless a pardon has been granted.

(C.D.) This fall, there were amendments to the Real Estate Brokerage Act as the result of the coming into force of two other Acts: An Act respecting the distribution of financial products and services and An Act to harmonizing public statutes with the Civil Code.

Advertising guide for real estate and mortgage agencies and brokers
 

The OACIQ is very happy to inform you that brokers who are members of the QSC Program are now allowed to mention this in their publicity. This program was developed by the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB). The public website was launched in November.