Best practices guide during the COVID-19 crisis - Residential and commercial real estate brokerage

 

The work organization and the way real estate brokerage services are rendered must respect the physical distancing recommended, the application of respiratory hygiene measures and hand washing.

In a gradual return-to-work situation in hybrid mode, you must use various technological means and tools such as virtual visits, videoconferences, conference calls, electronic forms, and electronic signature solutions.

If an agency executive officer, real estate broker or employee has the virus symptoms, it is important to contact 1-877-644-4545 and avoid being in contact with any other person.

A broker who ceases his professional activities must inform his agency executive officer, who will ensure that a continuity plan is implemented should the broker be absent. The same applies in the case of a positive diagnosis, after undergoing a COVID-19 test, or after having been in contact with a person who has been tested positive.
 

The OACIQ recommends that you consult the following sources:

Quebec Government

• General information about coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
• Clarifications about the measures in force
• Progressive regional alert and intervention system
• Poster in colors with exemptions - Here, I wear my face covering - Wearing a face covering is mandatory (PDF)
• Poster in black and white with exemptions - Here, I wear my face covering - Wearing a face covering is mandatory (PDF)

Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST)

• Workplace Guide to Sanitary Standards - COVID-19 (PDF)
• COVID-19 Toolkit
• L’ordre de priorités des mesures de distanciation physique - in French only (Video)
• Ajustements à venir en milieu de travail (hors milieu de soins) - in French only

Canadian Government

• Public Health Agency of Canada
   

All real estate transactions can continue to take place remotely using technological tools such as electronic forms and electronic signatures.

In the event of an accepted promise to purchase, the parties may agree between them to extend any deadlines for fulfilling the conditions due to current circumstances. The broker’s intervention is required to ensure that these changes are recorded in writing in a residential Amendments (AM) form.

Contact the notary to find out if he will be able to carry out a notarial deed remotely using technological media, within the period set out in the promise to purchase. You may also visit the website of the Chambre des notaires at cnq.org, which provides instructions to notaries in the context of COVID-19.

If any of the parties bound by the terms of an accepted Promise to purchase wishes to withdraw from the transaction for any reason related to the COVID-19 crisis, the party will be exposed to legal action. Therefore, brokers must adequately inform the parties wishing to evade their obligations of the consequences of not respecting such an undertaking and, if necessary, refer the client to a legal expert (lawyer or notary).

Visit to a property is part of the professional real estate brokerage services rendered under a brokerage contract and, more specifically, during the completion of a real estate transaction.

You must comply with the health measures issued by public health authorities, including in your professional activities and, more specifically, during visits. For clients, the wearing of a medical mask or face covering and physical distancing are no longer mandatory, but strongly recommended, especially in confined spaces. For brokers, the same protection measures apply as in agencies.

The OACIQ proposes that the COVID-19 Declaration Form be completed by adapting its use according to the context (buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, occupants of the premises).

COVID-19 declaration form 

If a respondent answers "Yes" to one of the three questions in the declaration, it would be responsible on his part not to proceed with the visit or enter the property.

In this form, the respondent undertakes to comply with the instructions given by the real estate broker attending the visit and is aware that any failure to comply with these instructions could result in an immediate interruption of the visit. The real estate broker should then ask the visitor to leave the premises. Given the health risks that the virus may pose, the government believes that the presence of people aged 65 and over is not recommended, but possible during visits.

The procedure proposed regarding the health measures that could taken before, during and after each visit is detailed below:

• Prioritizing in advance a virtual visit of the premises;
• Should the buyer be interested in making a real visit to the premises:
  • Plan the visit since additional precautions must be taken;
  • Have the COVID-19 declaration signed by the relevant persons based on the circumstances;
  • Ensure that the occupants are outside the immovable during the visit;
  • Maintain control, and given the sometimes-limited space, restrict the visit to one visitor at a time with the attending broker;
  • Request that only one buyer’s representative be present during the visit (in the case of couples, families, or several buyers);
  • Maintain the physical distancing recommended between people at all times;
  • Wear any protective equipment required by the authorities (e.g. a mask, safety goggles, visor);
  • Clean hands systematically before and after the visit using soap or a disinfectant;
  • Take reasonable measures to prevent visitors from touching the surfaces;
  • Disinfect the surfaces used before and after the visit by the real estate broker (door handles, doorbell, switches, ramps, etc.).

If only a virtual visit was held, remember that you should advise the potential buyer to include conditional clauses that would render his promise to purchase null and void if the on-site visit and/or the building inspection was not to his satisfaction. Check the standard clauses available on synbad.com.

Involvement of other professionals in the real estate transaction
Other professionals engaged in a real estate transaction such as building inspector, certified appraiser and land surveyor are subject to their own rules of practice in the context of the pandemic. Brokers should inform all other stakeholders of the importance of complying with the directives of the public authorities, including respecting, at all times, the physical distancing recommended and the applicable hygiene measures.
 

It is the responsibility of licensees to ensure that visits to private homes are conducted in accordance with the health rules in effect.

In addition to the above-mentioned general principles, agency executive officers must ensure that the directives of Public Health and CNESST are respected.

In a gradual return-to-work situation in hybrid mode, telecommuting is to be favoured for all employees of companies and organizations who can perform administrative tasks or office work remotely. However, clients may access the agency’s premises if necessary.

Although wearing a mask or face covering is no longer mandatory in most public places, it is still recommended for everyone in an entrance hall, reception area or elevator. Clients who feel the need to do so may also continue to wear a mask or face covering inside the agency's premises.

Otherwise, the rules that apply in matters of occupational health and safety continue to apply. The wearing of a mask, the minimum 1-meter distance and physical barriers are no longer mandatory, but still recommended, especially in confined spaces. However, under their management rights, employers retain the right to require their workers to wear a medical-grade mask in the workplace. Hand-washing and respiratory etiquette also remain basic health measures.

Finally, isolation rules remain in place for symptomatic persons and those who tested positive for COVID. The mask must be worn during the 5-day isolation period (from the onset of symptoms or, in the absence of symptoms, from the date when the sample was taken), as well as during any social interaction during the following 5 days.

As a regulator, the OACIQ oversees the practice of real estate brokers to promote best practices and protect the public. In carrying out its mandate, several tools are available to both the public and real estate brokers, including the Info OACIQ line. Information agents have the necessary resources to guide brokers in their practice and inform consumers.