TRESA: Ontario Real Estate Rules Are Changing: Here’s What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know

As of December 1st, the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act (REBBA) was renamed the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA), and several changes have come into effect. I have spent the last few weeks, with my team at Keller Williams Associates, in many, many, training sessions to better understand and be able to explain these new rules to you.

If you're thinking of buying or selling within the next year, you're going to want to read this:

CHANGE 1: TRANSPARENCY & BIDDING WARS

One of the most significant changes is that the rules for bidding wars are changing in order to improve transparency to blind bidding, like Form 801, which, in compliance with REBBA, requires an offer to be put in writing.

However, TRESA is taking transparency further with the Open Offer Process which gives sellers the option of disclosing details of competing offers, including the price, deposit, closing date and conditions, and excluding any personal details. This change won’t have a significant impact on prices, but the change will improve transparency, specifically during stressful bidding wars.

Under these new rules, sellers cannot only disclose the highest offer, but it also gives everyone the opportunity to present another offer.

CHANGE 2: MULTIPLE REPRESENTATION

Another major change to TRESA is solving the problems associated with multiple representation.

Currently, if a realtor works for a brokerage, all realtors in the company are technically representing the seller, and if another agent in the company has a buyer, it's multiple representation.

Under REBBA’s rules, agents who are in multiple representation cannot advise their clients on what offer to accept because both agents in the office are representing the same parties, creating a conflict of interest where brokers have to be impartial with their advice.

Now, under TRESA, agents can represent their clients on an individual level — known as designated representation or agency — as opposed to on the brokerage level.

CHANGE 3: SELF-REPRESENTATION

The third major change has to do with self-represented parties. Currently, when you work with a realtor, you have the choice of being a client or a customer. Realtors working with you as a client must represent you to the fullest, whereas customers aren’t entitled to the same, full representation.

This distinction creates confusion as many people would opt to work with realtors as a customer instead of as a client. But now, TRESA eliminates the option for you to work with a realtor as a client, so that you can be a self-represented party instead.

The latter can come with risks, though, especially when it comes to filling out forms without knowing the correct clauses to insert or having to represent yourself in court, should there be any issue with your deal.

These new rules are a big overhaul to how the real estate industry operates, and we're still working through the details of all the changes and how they will impact us as agents, and allow us to better service our clients.

If you have any questions about these new changes and how they might impact you, please feel free to email me at dan@danteatrealestate.com