The profession of real estate broker is governed by the Real Estate Brokerage Act and its regulations, such as the Regulation respecting the conditions for carrying on a brokerage transaction, the ethics of brokers and advertising, as well as the Professional Code. The Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (” OACIQ “) ensures that they are respected, that permits are issued and that the rules of ethics related to the profession are applied. As a broker, your role is to make all the necessary efforts to sell or buy, rent, obtain mortgage financing or carry out the real estate transaction agreed upon with your clients. However, this role comes with certain conditions that you must meet in order to hold a permit authorizing you to be a party, as an intermediary, to a real estate brokerage contract for the sale, purchase or lease of an immovable. Several obligations must also be met, otherwise you could face ethical complaints and legal proceedings. Whether or not you have actually violated these obligations, an ethics complaint can have a serious impact on your reputation as well as on your professional and personal life. If you are faced with an ethics complaint, our team specializing in criminal and disciplinary law can support you and protect your rights by offering you a solid and rigorous defence, tailored to your needs. Don’t face these charges alone. Contact us now to discuss your situation and build an action plan.
Duties and obligations
Duties to the public
As a broker, you represent your entire profession in the eyes of the public. Accordingly, you must support any measures that may improve the quality of services to the public in your field, as well as those aimed at protecting the public. The reputation of the profession depends on the irreproachable conduct of its members, including yours.
Duties to customers
The profession of real estate broker creates multiple obligations aimed at protecting the rights and interests of your clients. Indeed, you must act with prudence, honesty, loyalty, integrity and competence when practising your profession, avoiding and disclosing any conflict of interest. Your services must be offered without discrimination and within the limits of your skills, knowledge and means. Your knowledge must also be updated continuously. As an intermediary party to a brokerage contract, your role is to protect and promote your client’s interests while treating all parties to the transaction fairly. This fair treatment includes, in particular, informing the other parties of the existence of promises to purchase and not disclosing the price of a promise to purchase to prospective buyers. By taking on this role, you are committed to probity, courtesy and a spirit of cooperation by maintaining sound practices, as well as to acting with objectivity, discretion and moderation.
Duty of independence
Conflicts of interest must be avoided. However, if you find yourself in a situation of conflict of interest that you cannot avoid, you must report it in writing without delay to the people concerned.
Duty of professional secrecy
As a professional, you must respect the confidentiality of information and personal information collected in the performance of your duties. For example, you should refrain from revealing to prospective buyers the price of the promise to purchase of the promising buyers.
Duty to inform
The information you provide to your customers or the public must be verified and accurate. For example, you must ensure that the information on the description sheet concerning an immovable is the correct one, unlike the broker’s actions in a 2020 decision. She had ignored the mention of mould and water infiltration problems on the property. In addition, you must objectively and transparently advise and inform your clients of all the facts relevant to the transactions to which they are parties. This includes factors that may adversely affect the parties or the subject matter of the transaction. The transaction itself, and the rights and obligations arising therefrom, must be in writing and you are responsible for giving the parties reasonable notice of the transaction.
Duty of availability
When you offer a service to a client, you must provide them with all the explanations necessary for their understanding and appreciation of your services in a reasonable time. Similarly, all communications addressed to you, as well as all your files, must be dealt with in a timely manner.
Duties to the profession
Your obligations as a real estate broker are not limited to the public and your client.es. They also extend to your relationships with your peers and your contribution to the profession and its image. In doing so, you must avoid practising in conditions likely to compromise the quality of your services, as well as avoiding committing acts that create controversy or are derogatory to the honour and dignity of the profession. These acts, provided for in particular in the Professional Code and in the Regulation, are intended to protect the image of the profession and the public’s confidence in it. They include refraining from:
- Intimidating someone with whom you are in a relationship for any reason;
- Committing an act that is illegal or that may harm the public or the profession;
- Urging a person to use your services in an urgent and abusive manner, especially when that person is vulnerable;
- Advising or encouraging a party to a transaction to commit an illegal or fraudulent act.
You should also, as far as possible, help the development of the profession, in particular by exchanging your knowledge and experience with your colleagues. As for your relations with them, you must not abuse their good faith, use unfair procedures towards them, prejudice them by using a decision rendered by the Discipline Committee or seek to obtain an advantage from your colleagues. On the contrary, you should use fair methods of competition and solicitation without disparaging or attempting to harm their relationships with their customers. In addition, your opinions regarding transactions made by colleagues must not be shared unless explicitly requested, in which case they must be informed, objective and take into account all the elements relating to the said transaction. Collaboration with colleagues should be used to promote the completion of transactions, but it also comes with certain obligations. For example, during a collaboration, you must reveal any information relevant to the completion of the transaction, as well as any transaction proposal, accepted or not, without revealing its content.
Sanctions
In the event of non-compliance with these obligations, the OACIQ may impose disciplinary sanctions that vary according to the seriousness of the offences committed. Penalties that may be imposed include:
- Reprimand : An official warning on your professional record;
- Fine : A financial penalty of up to $100,000 per violation;
- Suspension or limitation of the right to practise: Temporary prohibition or restriction in the exercise of your professional activities;
- Temporary or permanent striking off: Temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to practise as a real estate broker;
- Revocation of the licence: Complete cancellation of your brokerage licence;
- Obligation to take training: Mandatory participation in a refresher course to correct the deficiencies identified;
- Obligation to return sums of money or documents: Financial compensation or delivery of documents to a party aggrieved by virtue of a disciplinary decision.
These sanctions, in addition to directly affecting your career, can damage your reputation and the trust of your customers. If you are the subject of an OACIQ investigation or complaint, it is essential to take the situation seriously and act quickly. At Lambert Lawyers, our team specializing in disciplinary law accompanies you every step of the way, from the investigation to the defence before the Discipline Committee. We offer you a rigorous defence to protect your rights, your career and your reputation. Contact us today for a confidential consultation.