RECO Discipline: Jeffery W. Gyles (2025) One of the most common questions asked by Ontario REALTORS® is: The answer, increasingly, appears to be no, not without taking reasonable steps to …
Smith v. RECO: A Landmark Decision on Verifying Property Taxes
Smith v. Real Estate Council of Ontario, 2024 ONSC 3965 One of the most significant Ontario decisions concerning a REALTOR®’s duty to verify information in an MLS® listing is Smith …
Who Should Verify Property Taxes?
Recent RECO discipline decisions have delivered a clear message to Ontario real estate professionals: property taxes are not a detail that can be guessed, assumed, or simply repeated from another …
Can a Real Estate Agent Sign a Client’s Name?
The Amaneuensis Doctrine in Ontario Law In Ontario real estate practice, questions sometimes arise about whether a registrant may sign a document on behalf of a client if the client …
Avoid Lawsuits: Keep Complete Files
The Broker’s Best Defence Against Lawsuits In real estate practice, documentation is not just administrative housekeeping, it is legal protection. When disputes arise, they are rarely resolved based on memory …
Avoid Lawsuits: Communicate Frequently
In real estate practice, many disputes that escalate into complaints or lawsuits are not caused by major errors or misconduct. Instead, they arise from something far more basic: a breakdown …
Avoiding Lawsuits: Never Ignore Red Flags
One of the most valuable qualities a successful real estate professional can develop is good judgment. While experience helps identify potential problems, many lawsuits arise because warning signs were ignored …
Avoid Lawsuits: Read Every Document
Before It Is Signed One of the easiest ways for a real estate professional to avoid lawsuits is also one of the most overlooked: Real estate transactions often move quickly. …
Know Your Client: A Critical Step for Real Estate Agents to Reduce Legal Risk
One of the most common sources of complaints and lawsuits against real estate agents is not fraud or intentional wrongdoing, it is misunderstanding. When expectations are unclear, assumptions fill the …
Real Estate Agents Avoiding Lawsuits: Encourage Independent Professional Advice
Know Your Own Limitations One of the most effective ways for real estate agents to reduce the risk of lawsuits is to recognize the limits of their expertise and encourage …