By Danny Kucharsky
The departure of most Quebec brokers from CREA should have only a temporary negative effect on brokers in the province who can no longer list properties on the MLS, says the president of the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board (GMREB).
Patrick Juanéda says brokers will have to explain to confused clients why their listings will no longer go on the MLS and that the Centris.ca listings search engine, created in 2010 by the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards, is superior to Realtor.ca. He says that when the Haute Yamaska board previously left CREA, it reported the departure did not have an impact.
In a narrow vote, 50.9 per cent of Montreal board members voted to split from CREA, while 49.1 voted to stay. Only 3,826 members (or 39 per cent) participated in the 1,946 to 1,880 vote.
Meanwhile, the Quebec City board also decided to pull out after a more decisive 57.5 per cent to 42.5 per cent vote by members.
Several other boards in the province are also opting to leave CREA. A few, such as the Sherbrooke-based Chambre immobilière de l’Estrie, which covers the Eastern Townships, have opted to stay.
“This result confirms that the status quo could no longer remain,” Juanéda wrote in a letter to members. He went on to say the Montreal board has communicated its concerns with CREA several times over the last two years but that several problematic issues remain.
“We deplore the fact that CREA has not put concrete solutions in place” to respond to concerns, he told members. However, “we remain nevertheless open to solutions that CREA could bring forward to minimize risks to our members.”
In an interview, Juanéda acknowledged that the close Montreal vote result indicates division among members on the question of CREA membership but notes that 61 per cent of members did not vote. He says this shows members are indifferent about the national association.
Pierre Leduc of CREA said the association could not provide comment by deadline because “the situation is evolving.” But in a notice to members, CREA expressed disappointment with the decision. The association noted there is “a significant portion” of the Montreal and Quebec City memberships who wish to remain in CREA and a group of members are taking steps to form a new real estate board with full CREA membership.
CREA will help members who wish to remain to form a new board or join a Quebec board that retains CREA membership. It will also remove non-member listings from Realtor.ca.
The impact of the departure by the Quebec boards on membership levels will not be known for several weeks or months “given the decision by many members to remain in CREA,” the association says in the notice.
The Montreal and Quebec City boards demanded a review of CREA expenses, requested more à-la-carte services and sought the ability to opt out of the national data distribution system. They were also concerned about recent changes to the national code of ethics and are opposed to Realtor.ca showing for-sale-by-owner properties in Quebec through brokers who do not hold a licence in the province.
FSBO listings of Quebec properties on Realtor.ca began to be seen last year from isellmyhome.ca and DuProprio (ComFree), Juanéda says. Such listings are illegal under Quebec law.
Unlike the rest of Canada, it is difficult for Quebec FSBOs to pay a flat fee to a broker to list their homes on Realtor.ca because provincial law requires brokers to verify the accuracy of information on listings.
In addition, the national code of ethics imposed by CREA, which juxtaposes onto the code already in effect in Quebec, is unmanageable and creates confusion, Juanéda says. He says the Montreal board is concerned the national data distribution system will result in members’ data being used outside the industry.
Montreal brokers who leave CREA will receive a credit on CREA dues of $98.50. As for those who opt to stay with CREA by joining a board that is still in the association or creating a new one, “it’s up to members to make their own choices,” Juanéda says. Boards that have opted to maintain their CREA membership, such as the Chambre immobilière de l’Estrie, have been receiving calls from Montreal brokers.
However, Juanéda says it is “deplorable” that CREA is trying to find ways to help Quebec brokers remain a part of the association rather than addressing the concerns of the boards.
“CREA lacks respect for members. They should take the message as a leader and say we should be looking for solutions,” he says. Instead, “they’re creating dissension among members.”
The opinion of members across Canada about CREA services “isn’t particularly pretty,” Juanéda says. “It’s not just Quebec. There’s grumbling everywhere. They should sit down and help us. There are quick paths to solutions.”
The Montreal board sys that Centris.ca has much higher web traffic than Realtor.ca. “Our analyses indicate that properties in Montreal can be easily found by Internet searchers around the world,” Juanéda says. He says Centris.ca appears among the early results of a Google search of “house for sale Montreal,” while Realtor.ca only appears pages later. New mobile applications of Centris are also being created that surpass Realtor.ca, he says.
