Concerning the letter from Dale Sander, broker/owner of Fife
and Sander Real Estate (REM, March) expressing his concern and outrage about
the recent court decision on the drunk driver’s case.

The court decision is unfortunately not reasonable, and
obviously, the judge made his judgment based on his personal sympathy to the
plaintiff, who was disabled after the accident. Where else can you get some
compensation for the disabled plaintiff? The bar that had entertained Linda
Hunt for more drinks was bankrupted, leaving the poor real estate broker owner
as the easy target to pay for what the plaintiff claimed to be responsible.

The Real Estate Broker Owners Association of Ontario has the
opinion that this case should be appealed. But not all broker/owners have the
resources and the will to drag the case further in the judicial system. We suggest
that our powerful Ontario Real Estate Association or Toronto Real Estate Board
should take the responsibility to appeal the case on behalf of the broker/
owner.

Linda Hunt's case is sympathetic to the court — at least
she is a real employee (secretary) of the real estate broker firm. But what
happens in the case of a salesman who fraudulently owed someone hundred
thousands of dollars, telling the victims that he worked for the real estate
firm and has the authority to sign documents on behalf of the boss? It is true
that the salespersons have the authority to sign a lot of documents on behalf
of the broker owners. Will the real estate firm have to bear the burden?

The above scenario is real, and the creditors in the court
of laws are suing the company.

This is one of the reasons why REBOAO is aggressively
lobbying the Government to change the laws that requires the broker/owner to be
responsible and liable for the conduct of the salespersons, performed outside
their offices and beyond the broker owners' control. For further information,
please visit www.reboao.org

Augustine Tang  MVA
FRI AIHM RCM
President
Real Estate Broker Owners Association of Ontario
Toronto