Real Estate Agency Complaints

Requirements

Licence

Every Real Estate Agency in this province must appoint an agent to act as its representative and to oversee the agency's salespeople, all of whom must be licensed by the Trade Practices Division.

Conduct

In accordance with the Real Estate Trading Act and Regulations,

An agreement to list real estate is only valid if the agreement contains a single expiry date and a true copy of the listing agreement is delivered immediately after it is signed to the owners of the listed property.
An agent or salesperson shall not induce someone who already has a valid listing agreement contract to break that contract for the purposes of entering into another listing agreement.
Where an agent or salesperson has secured an acceptance of an offer both the purchaser and the vendor must receive a signed copy of the offer.
An agent or salesperson shall not purchase, make an offer to purchase, or acquire for himself or herself an interest in real estate which he or she has listed until it is clearly disclosed in writing to the listing owner that it is his or her intention to do so.
A real estate agent/salesperson will hold a prospective purchaser's deposit in a trust account, and it shall not be disbursed unless the offer of purchase has not been accepted by the vendor; the sale has been completed; written notice from the vendor and purchaser has been received by the agent authorizing the return of the deposit to the purchaser; a court has given a direction as to the disbursement of the proceeds; or the money has been deposited into the trust account in error.

Ethics

Matters of an "ethical" nature can also be handled by provincial Real Estate Boards, of which there are three. You may contact either Board to find out if an agent or salesperson is a licensed member of a provincial Board and, if so, to which Board he or she is licensed. The phone numbers and contacts for each Board are:

Board	Contact	Telephone
St. John's	Mr. Sam Wells	(709) 726-5110
Central	Mr. Owen Grimes	(709) 489-7000
Western	Mr. Gary Bishop	(709) 634-9400

Mediation

Our office handles and mediates complaints involving the actions of real estate agents and salespersons, ensuring that they comply with the Real Estate Trading Act and Regulations. Purchasers and/or vendors may contact our office if they believe that an agent or salesperson has violated the Act, Regulations, or his or her rights, such as those listed above.