There are five primary sources of new legal requirements for real estate agents: Statutory laws, Regulatory laws, Changes to the local MLS rules and regulations, Discipline cases published by RECO, …
Disclosure Obligation Backfires for Real Estate Agent
The real estate agent is charged with additional disclosure obligations over that of the seller. In this case, the agent approached the owner of a property inquiring whether he wished …
Disclosure Dilemma of Listing Agents
There are two separate and distinct laws that apply to disclosure when it comes to real estate transactions. There is one law for sellers and another for their “agents”. Seller’s …
Commencement of Good Faith and Honesty Doctrines
When does good faith and honesty start when it comes to contracts? Well, the first thing that you have to have is a contract. So, that means that the two …
Cancelling the Listing (Early Termination)
What if you have a real estate agent you don’t like? How do you get rid of them? You don’t want to be a complainer, you don’t want to report …
Can Your Agent Switch Sides and Act for the Buyer?
The quick answer is “no”. The problem is that this “impression” was provided recently in a newspaper column. I’m sure that there will soon be a published correction, retraction or …
Brian Madigan’s “Bidding War Rules
Bidding wars are just not fair. They only help one person and that’s the Seller. If there are 31 bids, then there are 30 prospective Buyers who went home, dissatisfied …
Bidding Wars: the Successful Loser!
You might think that having won the bidding war, Paul would be quite happy. And, he was for a bit. But, here’s what happened. The housing market was quite active, …
OREA FORM 127 ~ Acknowledgement
There is a recent new Form which has been published by OREA, (the Ontario Real Estate Association). It is Form 127, described as an: “Acknowledgement Re: Condition(s) in Offer” In …
Should You sign a SPIS (Sellers Property Information Statement)?
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker The question is: “do you sign one or not?” OREA says yes. RECO says yes. But, most Ontario lawyers would say “no”. So, who do you …