By Danny Kucharsky
If you’ve been using For Sale signs in Quebec sporting photos of yourself that were taken when Milli Vanilli was big, you have to remove them immediately.
That’s because it’s no longer possible for brokers to have 20-year-old plus photos of themselves on For Sale signs or other forms of advertising in Quebec. It’s all part of a new law that makes it obligatory to have promotional photos that are not more than five years old.
The move is aimed at ensuring clients will be able to recognize their brokers. It does not oblige brokers to use a photo on their signs, although the practice is prevalent in the industry.
It is just one of several changes imposed by the new brokerage law of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ). The OACIQ replaced the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec.
While the law has been in effect since May 2010, brokers had an 18-month transition period to make sure their advertising conformed to the changes and to clear out old stock of forms, business cards, letterhead and other stationery.
Changes to publicity, outlined in an 80-page plus OACIQ guide, also cover email signatures, websites, TV and print ads.
The new act also does away with the term real estate agent, with all agents in the province to be called brokers. Mortgage brokers are also covered by the legislation. It replaces a law that had been in effect since 1994.
The OACIQ was introduced as a result of a new real estate brokerage act in the province, aimed at making the real estate industry more professional by increasing the degree of difficulty for obtaining a license. It includes regulations covering brokers’ and agency licenses, brokerage requirements, records and bookkeeping, disciplinary proceedings, indemnity fund and professional liability premiums and professional conduct.
Not surprisingly, a law that adds new costs to brokers has not been met with universal acclaim.
Broker Claude Leclair, manager of Maison du consommateur in Rosemère, north of Montreal, says real estate professionals have been forced to change their titles from agents to brokers despite the fact clients have never been able to tell the difference between the designations since he started his real estate career in 1989. “The main goal of the OACIQ is to protect the public. How is the public protected if it’s Courtier immobilier agréé (authorized real estate broker) or Agent immobilier agréé (authorized real estate agent)?”
In an email he sent to the OACIQ, an admittedly frustrated Leclair calls the organization “specialists in imposing expenses that are really unnecessary to justify its mission to protect the public.”
Leclair says he now has $5,000 worth of promises to purchase forms, signs and stationery that are now useless. He is now printing out forms and stationery only on an as-needed basis.
He fears that in 10 years a new generation of bureaucrats will change the name again and independent brokers will have to pay again to make changes. “Every time bureaucrats play intellectual masturbation games, it costs us money,” he says.
In response to his missive, Leclair says he received a lawyers’ letter warning him to be careful with his words and to respect the profession.
