I received a great deal of support for my letter (REM, April 2004) and overwhelmingly the responders felt that no one is representing the interests of the working/selling Realtors.
We are faced with every special interest group pushing us to include them in offers and protect them via our insurance. A partial list includes lawyers, insurance companies, mortgage companies, house inspectors, mould inspectors, insulation inspectors, radon gas inspectors, title insurance companies, asbestos removers and governments. All of these groups want to be included in and control what goes into offers, and if we do not include them we are somehow totally responsible for any perceived or real problems. ENOUGH!
We need a standard offer that is approved by the Real Estate Council of Ontario that protects the consumer and the Realtor both, not at our risk or the consumer’s risk. It is not rocket science and should be able to be drafted in 24 hours. This is NOT an opportunity for OREA to create yet another course, it is an opportunity to protect both the consumer and the Realtor and more importantly, take the liability away from the Realtor.
We should not be putting ourselves in the position of being responsible for every aspect of an offer if we do not have a pre-approved offer that covers everything that RECO and other such bodies require. There is a huge gap between what OREA is teaching and what RECO is ruling on. We need RECO’s definitive offer, not OREA’s lawyer-driven and self-interested opinions and suggestions.
Perhaps the RECO insurer could help draft this new offer, because they are dealing with claims all the time. We as an industry should be able to draft an offer and all accompanying paperwork that takes the liability away from the working/selling Realtors who are paying all the costs of OREA, RECO, RECO insurance, and CREA, and are being faced with lawsuits and lost time and expense.
We need an association that is working and lobbying for Realtors. If you argue that we have them now, then the ones we have are failing miserably.

Douglas Teddiman
Broker
Peak Effect Realty
Durham, Ont.