Training and career in real estate

In 2010, the Court of Appeal, the highest court in Québec, handed down a major decision for real estate brokerage in a case where the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec (ACAIQ) – now the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) – appeared, first in the trial court, and later in the Court of Appeal, to argue its position.

Since May 1, a ''Transitional Annex'' form must be attached to any brokerage contract entered into on or after that date. We remind you that a PDF version of this form was made available on Synbad on April 20. A carbonless paper version is also available from the Synbad online store.

INSPECTION CAPSULE

The Professional Inspection Department has noticed a lack of understanding of the principles governing the receipt of a sum for another and the management of a deposit.

PRACTICES SERIES

Before listing a mobile home, a broker must first determine whether it is a movable or an immovable. Under the Civil Code of Québec, a mobile home is a movable. However, the Civil Code also includes circumstances where it can be considered an immovable.

Good professional practices dictate, among other things, that an agent should discover and disclose any unfavourable factor related to an immovable in order to inform the buyer. To do so, he must question the seller and inform him of his obligations.

PRACTICES SERIES

Sometimes a seller may have particular requirements regarding the timing for submitting promises to purchase to him regarding an immovable for sale. For example, a seller may want to consider all promises to purchase at the same time, on a predetermined date.

PRACTICES SERIES

Many real estate agents are asking whether it is a good idea to let the seller fill out the form Declarations by the Seller of the Immovable (DS) or whether the agent should do it as a matter of course. The ACAIQ recommends that the agent fill out this form with the seller’s assistance.

Real estate brokers and agents are very familiar with the difficulties involved in determining the area of a divided co-ownership unit. On the one hand, the current practice of selling new co-ownership properties “on plans” means that measurements are based on architectural plans. On the other hand, the Civil Code of Québec requires that the cadastral plan from which the creation of the co-ownership originates be determined from an actual measuring of the inside of the private portions based on established physical boundaries.

It is important to note that the Small Claims Court decision changes nothing to current Discipline Committee jurisprudence, which is very clear on that subject, nor to the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ. An agent who is apprised of the fact that a suicide has occurred on a property still has an ethical obligation to disclose this fact.

PRACTICES SERIES

Under the Real Estate Brokerage Act, a seller (natural person) may, at his own discretion, cancel a brokerage contract concerning a residential immovable within three days following the day on which he receives a duplicate of the contract signed by both parties.