Ontario
Question:
Is there a specific disclosure form I have to use when doing an agreement if I’m related to my client? I know I have to include a disclosure but not sure what exactly that entails.
Answer:
Most of the time you don’t need it.
How are you related to your client? Is this a buy or a sale? And, do you have a direct interest in the property yourself?
The standard OREA form unfortunately combines the s. 32 under the Act and s.18 under the Code disclosures. It’s very easy to get them mixed up.
Step 1: are you related? There is a very specific definition.
Step 2: who do you tell? That’s an issue as well. Most of the time this disclosure isn’t required at all.
It only applies in multiples and similar circumstances where you have two customers. This essentially means that you will actually rarely, if ever, use it.
It’s not a good Form. It confuses people. Agents will look to the Form rather than the Act and the Code for guidance. This leads to a great deal of unnecessary paperwork, people disclosing things that they don’t have to disclose to people who don’t care.
So, read the Act and the Code, and then you will know. At that point filling out the Form is easy.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker