When Things Go Wrong

Working with a REALTOR® will go a long way to ensuring that the sale or purchase of your home will go smoothly. There are times, however, when even professional service goes awry, and things are not as they should be. You may think the REALTOR® is at fault. What do you do? The best first step would be to talk to the salesperson and/or his or her broker or manager, who is the person the salesperson reports to. Perhaps the problem is simply a misunderstanding that can be worked out between you, or there may be steps they can take to remedy the situation. The second step you may consider is to contact your lawyer. Depending on what exactly has happened and what circumstances exist, your lawyer may be able to patch things up or, at the very least, let you know what your choices are. One choice you might not know about is contacting the local real estate board to which the REALTOR® belongs or the Manitoba Real Estate Association (MREA) and discussing the situation with someone in the office. Although rules vary from board to board to association, there are some basic rules which all REALTOR®S (that is, members of a local real estate board or provincial real estate association) must abide by, and they are known collectively as the Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice. The staff member who handles complaints from the public is knowledgeable about the ins and outs of real estate transactions, rules governing members, the Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice and rules of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®); he or she will be able to tell you if you have the basis for making a complaint about the member to the Board. Should you feel that the salesperson or broker you dealt with treated you unfairly or failed to do their job properly, you may write a letter of complaint to the real estate board or MREA. They will investigate your complaint by contacting the salesperson and his or her broker to get their side of the story. Once they have your complaint and their member’s response to your complaint, they will decide if there should be a hearing to investigate further. A hearing is simply a meeting of the people involved in your complaint - you and the REALTOR® you complained about - plus a hearing panel. The panel is made up of a group of real estate brokers and/or salespeople who are members of the organization to which you have sent your complaint. These members, like most others in the organization, have a real interest in ensuring that members perform their duties and offer their services according to their rules and regulations and the Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice. Some organizations may also include someone who is not a member of the board on their hearing panel when a member of the public - like you - has made the complaint. A hearing can have one of two outcomes: the complaint against the member can be either dismissed or upheld. If the complaint is dismissed, it means that there was either no evidence or insufficient evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of the salesperson and his or her broker. If the complaint is upheld, it means that the hearing panel found enough evidence that the salesperson and/or broker participated in wrongdoing; the panel then has the power to apply penalties to the salesperson and/or the broker. You should be aware, however, that neither the hearing committee, the real estate board nor the MREA have authority to demand their member compensate you if they have been found guilty of any wrongdoing; for compensation, you will have to talk to your lawyer about options for pursuing your claim through the courts. If there is no monetary compensation for you, why make the complaint? There are a number of good reasons. To begin, real estate boards and the Manitoba Real Estate Association are very interested in having their members act professionally and in accordance with provincial and real estate board guidelines. Any time they are acting otherwise it reflects badly on the industry as a whole. Secondly, if a member is participating in something they should not be, the Board and Association have an interest in ensuring that the member is made aware that his or her behaviour is unacceptable and that remedial action is taken. Thirdly, if the REALTOR® has done something which has put you or your real estate transaction in jeopardy but has done it unknowingly, it is in everyone’s interest that that REALTOR® learn the proper procedures. It isn’t often that transactions go amiss because of the actions of a real estate salesperson, but when they do, it’s good to know there is somewhere you can go. Multiple Listing Service, MLS® and REALTOR® are registered trademarks of the Canadian Real Estate Association. REALTOR® identifies a real estate practitioner who is a member of the Association.