Request of assistance

To send a request for assistance to the OACIQ, fill out the “Request for Assistance” form, taking care to describe all the facts that occurred.

Measures have been implemented to ensure that requests for assistance may be processed within a reasonable time frame. Among these, any agent who wishes to file a request for assistance with the ACAIQ must first have it signed by his broker or manager.

Before doing business with this type of company, it is important that real estate brokers and agents make sure they follow the rules regarding advertising, representations and the soliciting of clients.

Here are the highlights and main changes included in the new Real Estate Brokerage Act.

Several of you sent us comments regarding the increase in the chargeable fees appearing on that invoice. It is our role to shed light on issues such as these, and to refer you to the documents containing the information that has already been made public on this topic.

The year 2002 was a record year for certificate renewals. A total of 11,147 certificates were renewed, a 12% increase over 2001. In addition, the number of candidates to the entrance examination increased by 20% over last year. A total of 1,596 candidates took the affiliated agent examination and 102 wrote the chartered broker or agent examination. The success rates were 88.5% and 74.5% respectively.

In keeping with its mission of protecting the public and in an effort to provide real estate brokers and agents with the information and support they need to do their jobs properly, the Association is pleased to introduce Info-ACAIQ. We are also happy to inform you of a brand new department called Assistance ACAIQ. These new projects follow the approval by the Board of Directors of the Association's 2002-2004 strategic plan. As you know, several studies conducted by outside firms, including focus groups and surveys, have enabled us to clarify the expectations and needs of real estate brokers and agents as well as those of consumers.

The new Real Estate Brokerage Act no longer presents any obstacles to the maintenance, preservation and archiving of records and registers on electronic medium.

[ASSOCIATION DES COURTIERS ET AGENTS IMMOBILIERS DU QUÉBEC]

This year, the Association set another record in terms of certificate renewals. As of December 31, 2005, the ACAIQ membership had reached almost 16,000, including 14,482 members who renewed their certificate for the year 2006. Never in all of history have this many people practiced real estate brokerage in Québec. In addition, the number of entrance examinations was 2,940 for the affiliated agent’s certificate and 182 for the chartered broker’s or agent’s certificate. The success rates were 86.6% and 79.7% respectively.

The ACAIQ has just issued a new recommended form “Request for information relating to a hypothecary loan”.