I have been asked by several candidates for the 2023 RECO Board of Directors to endorse them in their campaigns. Sure, I am happy to help.
I just got the list of hopeful and enthusiastic applicants. Actually, I know quite a few people personally, so I certainly need to be careful. Naturally, I can support candidates in all three Regions, but I can only vote for one person in Region 1.
Overall, there is one position in each Region for a three year term. There are 32 candidates in total ranging in experience from one (1) month in the industry to over 40 years.
Fundamentally, I would like to see at least five (5) years of experience before anyone would run for office. The next lowest was just shy of 6 months!
It looks like most applicants had their answers completed by AI. Everyone is nice and polite. Everyone is ethical and respectful of everyone else! That’s boring. And, if I almost fell asleep during your 2 minute You Tube performance, that’s not a good thing.
So, let’s eliminate some people. If you think you are licensed rather than registered, you need a little more experience before you are ready to run. If your questions contain spelling and grammatical mistakes, again, back to the drawing board and good luck next time.
You need a platform:
- RECO needs to change. The Auditor General said so.
- Hundreds and hundreds of students at Humber graduate using fake ID’s and falsifying their exams
- Thousands and thousands of renewals are granted each year with the applicants, not knowing the correct answers, just simply knowing to press “click” for 11 hours straight
- Investigations are slow, there are not enough people
- Rarely do spot audits at Brokerages ever take place
- Discipline proceedings result in a “slap on the wrist”
So, let’s change those things!
Rather than reduce the price of a renewal, we will need to hold it steady or increase it. RECO actually needs more money in order to do its job properly.
Let’s do spot audits on every Brokerage out there, once every 24 months.
We could also do spot audits on salespersons and determine what they know. If they fail, they need to learn some of the basics. Also, why don’t they “know” the basics?
When it comes to discipline, if something goes wrong with a registrant, the Brokerage failed to “supervise” them. So, the answer is simple here. The Brokerage also has to pay a fine, UNLESS, they can prove that they actually taught that matter to that particular salesperson. Also, no fine can be passed on to the registrant, The Brokerage pays it and absorbs it.
When it comes to “breaking and entering”, that is, giving out the lockbox number to a client, there should be a minimum $15,000.00 fine plus a suspension of three months. If you are suspended for three months, then those three months will be March, April and May, Your cell phone needs to be turned over to the Brokerage during that time. No calls, no contact, no advertising, no interaction on Facebook. You are not entitled to any referral fees or delayed compensation for that period.
Right now, the RECO fine for this is about $4,500.00. That’s like a referral fee! Compensation should also be ordered in favour of the Seller.
The fines are so light right now, any registrant would not realistically be discouraged from repeating their bad behavior. Let’s step up to the plate and ensure that those who break the rules receive some sort of punishment.
What other changes do you think should be made?
And, by the way, if you have no ideas, then why are you running?
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker