Letter to Premier RE: Self-Regulation
Here is the body of a letter I sent to the Premier, Real Estate Council, Real Estate Association and Real Estate Board after the announcement of the end to self-regulation of Realtors:
"Will the new superintendent continue to be the director of FICOM? Will the new superintendent finally regulate BOTH the RSA and REDMA? It has been a thorn in my side for some time that developers have been separately regulated and that issues like disclosure statement filings have been held with FICOM rather then registered with the Land Title Office, parking lease assignments and interest accruing to developers on deposits are all shrugged at. A single overseer may help contribute to some better integration of the two most significant pieces of real estate legislation in the province - probably not.
It would be nice to see some changes in legislation related to misrepresentation by developers. Holding developers to account is nearly/effectively impossible do to the limitations of liability beyond failure to disclose in the REDMA. How about requiring that developers use licensed realtors? I feel really let down by the lack of significant effort on the part of my Board, the Real Estate Association, the Real Estate Council and my provincial government in truly making our industry more beneficial to the public. I especially chafe at the Government of BC trying to divert attention from what is a genuine problem - lack of affordability and instead focusing on scapegoating realtors. How can eliminating the property transfer tax on new construction possibly help reduce prices? Real estate is a market commodity - people will pay what they are willing to pay - including the tax. Eliminating the tax for new homes is just padding the margins of developers - this is economics 101. Why is it that developers have so little oversight but realtors are the bad guys? So although I do not have any problem with self regulation being replaced with direct regulation, I suspect very little will change. Please prove me wrong; maybe we can all start making a better effort."
The idea that realtors need more than self-regulation begs the question as to why developers are governed by only self-regulating legislation....
Sam Wyatt - Vancouver Relator
"Will the new superintendent continue to be the director of FICOM? Will the new superintendent finally regulate BOTH the RSA and REDMA? It has been a thorn in my side for some time that developers have been separately regulated and that issues like disclosure statement filings have been held with FICOM rather then registered with the Land Title Office, parking lease assignments and interest accruing to developers on deposits are all shrugged at. A single overseer may help contribute to some better integration of the two most significant pieces of real estate legislation in the province - probably not.
It would be nice to see some changes in legislation related to misrepresentation by developers. Holding developers to account is nearly/effectively impossible do to the limitations of liability beyond failure to disclose in the REDMA. How about requiring that developers use licensed realtors? I feel really let down by the lack of significant effort on the part of my Board, the Real Estate Association, the Real Estate Council and my provincial government in truly making our industry more beneficial to the public. I especially chafe at the Government of BC trying to divert attention from what is a genuine problem - lack of affordability and instead focusing on scapegoating realtors. How can eliminating the property transfer tax on new construction possibly help reduce prices? Real estate is a market commodity - people will pay what they are willing to pay - including the tax. Eliminating the tax for new homes is just padding the margins of developers - this is economics 101. Why is it that developers have so little oversight but realtors are the bad guys? So although I do not have any problem with self regulation being replaced with direct regulation, I suspect very little will change. Please prove me wrong; maybe we can all start making a better effort."
The idea that realtors need more than self-regulation begs the question as to why developers are governed by only self-regulating legislation....
Sam Wyatt - Vancouver Relator
THIS ENTRY WAS POSTED ON July 5th, 2016 BY Sam Wyatt Personal Real Estate Corporation | POSTED IN General
