British Columbia's real estate regulator has yet to implement several key changes designed to protect buyers and sellers, such as banning controversial "double-end" deals, a year since the BC Liberal government promised an overhaul of the regulatory system after widespread problems were exposed.
Last June, the province agreed to adopt an independent panel's 28 recommendations and went even further by taking full regulatory powers away from the industry-led B.C. Real Estate Council and giving them to a new Superintendent of Real Estate.
But critics argue more should have been done to protect buyers and sellers as most property prices continue to rise steeply in the Vancouver region, where homes are traded as a commodity.
Recommendations that have yet to be implemented include the ban on double-end deals; a system to log offers and eventually allow potential buyers to see them in real time; bringing more transparency to the way local real estate boards discipline their members; and rules designed to increase the ability of bosses at megafirms to supervise their employees.
The superintendent's office has no timetable for changing the rules around double-end deals, which involve a single agent representing both the seller and the buyer. The practice has been widely criticized for years because of its inherent conflict of interest.
BC Liberal Leader Christy Clark, campaigning ahead of next week's provincial election, said that her party wants to outlaw this practice and implement the remaining recommendations. But she said the government is waiting on the superintendent's office to finish its due diligence before crafting any new rules.
"What's happening in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is very different from how the industry is structured in places like 100 Mile House, so that consultation is under way to make sure we get it right," she said of the work to change the rules around "double-end" deals.
She did not offer a timeline for when that work would be finished.
NDP Leader John Horgan said earlier this week that, if elected, his government would continue adopting the changes proposed by the independent panel.
"The Liberals deregulated, then re-regulated and patted themselves on the back," he said Wednesday at an editorial-board meeting with The Globe and Mail in Vancouver. "We certainly have to take a look at that."
Both the Real Estate Council and the Superintendent of Real Estate would not comment on the ongoing overhaul, citing a need to remain impartial during the election campaign.
In its final report, the independent panel noted that as long as the practice of double-ending is allowed to continue, it will erode the clear ethical expectations set out for realtors because "it is fundamentally inconsistent with a licensee's duties and responsibilities to their client."
The province also committed to requiring realtors to log all offers on a property with their managing broker and, eventually, to developing a system where multiple bids could be tracked in real time by buyers. Such a registry would allow prospective buyers to confirm that there were, in fact, multiple offers made on a property.
But that has not happened yet.
Under the existing blind bidding process, unscrupulous realtors can exaggerate the number of people vying for a property in order to increase the size of offers.
"Right now, I know there are multiple offers on pretty much every property I have," said Vancouver agent Keith Roy. "In B.C., you are relying strictly on the good nature and ethics of another realtor to determine if you are indeed competing with multiple offers."
B.C. also committed to stopping its 11 regional real estate boards from handling public complaints of realtor misconduct. The boards, which guard access to the lucrative Multiple Listings Service, say they now only handle member-to-member disputes, but their disciplinary processes and penalties remain secret.
Despite the independent panel recommending higher education standards, aspiring realtors can still complete a $1,150 licensing course's 20 online assignments in slightly less than three months before signing up for the multiple-choice exam and applying for a licence.
The province also agreed to improve the oversight that managing brokers have over their agents, especially at megafirms such as New Coast Realty. That company is subject to numerous licence conditions and an ongoing council investigation after The Globe and Mail reported training sessions conducted by the firm's owner involved teaching agents how to make quick commissions by telling homeowners the first offer on a property is always best.
The independent panel recommended a ratio be devised limiting the number of agents one broker can supervise. That has not yet happened and several firms have hundreds of realtors operating under a single managing broker.
Mike Hager