Real Estate Council Releases Second Progress Report: Enhancing Protection for Real Estate Consumers in BC

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Real Estate Council Releases Second Progress Report:

Enhancing Protection for Real Estate Consumers in BC

The second progress report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) is now available online, outlining the Council’s actions up to September 30, 2017.

The Council launched the IAG in February 2016 to make recommendations on ways to enhance consumer protection and build public confidence in real estate professionals. In its final report, the IAG included 28 recommendations to strengthen the real estate industry.

The Council has taken a number of key actions to implement the IAG recommendations up until September 30, 2017, including:

Undertaking a comprehensive review of licensing education and testing requirements.The Council published a Request for Proposals in July 2017 and selected a proponent. The review is scheduled to complete in April 2018.
Raising entry standardsby introducing a more comprehensive standard of English Language Proficiency for all real estate licensing course students.
Increasing public education and awareness efforts.The Council has secured $250,000 in matching funding from the Real Estate Foundation of BC for the development and implementation of a consumer education campaign.
Increasing the transparency of disciplinary processes and their outcomesby approving the publication of special compensation hearing findings, qualification hearing findings, and anonymized summaries of administrative penalties issued by the Council.

The Council is committed to implementing all of the recommendations of the IAG under its authority and to supporting the Superintendent of Real Estate and the Province for those that will require changes to rules or legislation.