New Duties of Inquiry Placed Upon Buyer’s Agent under TRESA

The Listing agent once TRESA comes in effect on 1 December 2023 may have some additional information that they would be obligated to disclose.

Have a look at s. 22.2 (1) under TRESA (Regulation 567/05):

22.2 (1) If a seller has a legal obligation to disclose a fact to the buyer and the fact is known to the broker or salesperson who represents the seller, the broker or salesperson shall disclose the fact to every buyer who expresses an interest in the real estate.

Let’s assume that the Listing agent has some information which falls under s.22.2 (1).

Both the Buyer who has expressed interest in the property and the Buyer’s agent are entitled to that information.

So, if you are the Buyer’s agent, you should ask, specifically, for any information which might fall under this category.

The obligations upon the Buyer’s agent would be:

1. Check the Listing,
2. Check the Listing again after 1 December 2023,
3. Download any pre-listing Inspection Report and read it carefully,
4. Look for any additional information that was uploaded to the Listing, quite possibly, it’s in one of those documents,
5. Check under Broker’s remarks,
6. If it says “call Listing agent before submitting Offer”, then call the Listing agent,
7. Before submitting an Offer, specifically request (in writing, preferred) whether there is any disclosure being made pursuant to s. 22.2 (1)
8. Advise the Buyer that the disclosure has been made, or that there is no disclosure,
9. Arrange to document the “disclosure response” for the file.

From the Buyer’s perspective, this additional disclosure information could be anywhere. If it’s buried in a 500 page pre-listing Inspection Report, then, you had better read it completely and thoroughly. That’s how you protect your client.

Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker

www.OntarioRealEstateSource.com