Training and career in real estate

The clause concerning the compensation, if any, that the seller will pay to the broker is, of course, very important. In particular, it is necessary to properly understand under what conditions such compensation will be due and as of when.

This is a central requirement for an establishment:

In principle, a contract should not terminate before the expiry date provided therein. However, the Civil Code states that, in the case of a contract for services, the client can unilaterally cancel it (Article 2125 of the Civil Code).

Montréal, February 17, 2004 – The Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec (ACAIQ) is asking Government to implement, as soon as is feasible, a set of regulations for the building inspection practice. For a majority of people, the purchase of a home represents the greatest investment of a life time. An effective inspection aims at identifying any potential problems in order to ascertain the repairs that may be necessary, thus allowing the buyer to conclude his transaction with full knowledge of the facts and the buyer to greatly diminish the risk of a civil action for hidden defects.

Presently, to qualify as a building inspector, a person need not follow any particular training, nor is there any standardize code of deontology. Certain inspectors voluntarily subscribe professional liability insurance. While tens of thousands of inspections are conducted yearly by a few hundred persons in Quebec, the majority of these persons are no longer able to subscribe professional liability insurance. Indeed, the Quebec Association of Building Inspectors, at the present time, is no longer requiring of its members that they subscribe such a coverage for that very reason.

“Even though the building inspection practice is not legally regulated, a real estate agent must recommend to a buyer that he make his offer to purchase conditional on an inspection,” said Mr. Robert Nadeau, President and CEO of the ACAIQ. “ Given this situation, we have undertaken to define a minimum inspection standard to protect one and all, which standard, in fact, is the strictest in North America.”

While waiting on the Government to act, the ACAIQ and the Quebec Association of Building Inspectors (QABI) have provided forms to buyers and sellers of real estate that, once completed, include all of the relevant and required information (work conducted, plans, permit, invoices, warranties) for a just and successful transaction. Designed as a data collection tool, the Declaration by the seller of the immovable form enables the seller to describe, to the best of his knowledge, the major components of the property involved in the transaction. The ACAIQ believes that the Declaration by the seller of the immovable should, in the future, be an obligation imposed upon the seller under the offer to purchase.

A representative is necessary to a partnership or legal person that is a chartered real estate broker because the holder of the real estate broker’s certificate is the legal entity constituted by the partnership or legal person. The representative’s qualifications allow the legal entity to pursue the activity of broker and engage in brokerage transactions. But what happens if the representative himself wishes to engage in brokerage transactions as a real estate agent or an affiliated real estate broker? He is permitted to act as a chartered real estate agent or affiliated real estate broker on condition that he respects Section 63 of the By-law of the ACAIQ, which requires the representative to personally hold one of these certificates. This is simply one more example of the well-known principle of the legal and practical distinction between legal persons and natural persons.

The REBA prescribes that every agent is assigned to an establishment and must report there.

A chartered real estate broker’s certificate may be issued to a legal person (a company), a partnership (an association of persons) or a natural person. A real estate broker which is a legal person or a partnership must be represented for purposes of applying the REBA by a person called the representative. Unlike a natural person who is a chartered real estate broker, a partnership or legal person cannot pass academic courses or acquire real estate brokerage experience. A natural person who is a real estate broker holds the certificate personally (in his own name), whereas a legal person or partnership receives a certificate through a natural person. This natural person is identified by the REBA as the representative.

We are not talking about a sales representative or a real estate agent who represents a broker, but a natural person who bears the title of representative for purposes of the REBA. The representative of a broker which is a partnership or legal person is obligatorily a natural person who has the qualifications required to be a holder of a real estate broker’s certificate. This is one of the first requirements stipulated by Section 7 of the REBA.

Created by the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec to recognize an individual who has made a remarkable contribution to help raise and modernize the standards of practice of the profession, the Québec Real Estate Brokerage Award was presented this year to Jean-Guy Labrèche, a long-time, highly skilled trainer in the field of real estate brokerage. The announcement was made in Saguenay on April 21, 2004 by last year’s recipient, Paul E. Myre, at the 2004 ACAIQ Education Event.

Paul Myre warned the 300 guests in attendance that the award ceremony would be especially moving due to the nature of the prize itself and the winner’s passing three days earlier. News of Mr. Labrèche’s death sent a long murmur of disbelief in the room. Paul Myre and Paul Legault, President of Réseau immobilier La Capitale, each gave a vibrant posthumous testimonial to their colleague and friend, followed by a minute of silence in his memory, then by thunderous applause at Paul Myre’s request. As Mr. Labrèche’s last employer, Paul Legault accepted the symbolic bronze medal on behalf of the deceased.

This year, the jury was comprised of Niquette Delage, representative of a consumer protection agency, Yves Lalonde of La Presse, Keith Collins, first Chairman of the ACAIQ Board of Directors, François Léger, who also chaired the Board, as well as current Board Director Paul Robert. As we know, rather than being rated on commercial criteria, nominees are evaluated based on their commitment, behaviour, skill and influence.

Jean-Guy Labrèche was Chairman of the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board’s Education Committee from 1977 to 1981. In 1980, he became President of the Real Estate Institute of Canada and in 1982 was appointed Vice President of the Quebec Real Estate Association, then President of the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board. Between 1986 and 1993, he also sat as a member of the Advisory Committee of Quebec’s Commission de formation professionnelle.

One of the highlights of Jean-Guy Labrèche’s career is without a doubt his contribution to training of emerging real estate professionals. Mr. Labrèche worked as an instructor of various classes and acted as lecturer for several teaching institutions and professional and government organizations. His diplomacy and talent as a communicator enabled him to instill in his students the art of mediation and conciliation, two indispensable tools for a real estate agent.

“I still remember how Jean-Guy used to talk about this career as the best profession in the world, how he made us proud to be real estate agents, and how indispensable we were as intermediaries in the sale or purchase of a property”, testified Bernard Savard, chartered real estate agent with La Capital Champlain. For his part, Guy Forgues, general manager of Collège Édouard-Montpetit, praised Mr. Labrèche for “his energy, his joie de vivre, his passion for his profession, his recognition of his colleagues and his great availability, which made him an exceptional person, appreciated by everyone who knew him and who were for the development of a training program that would be recognized in the community”. “At La Capitale, Jean-Guy left an indelible mark. Every agent who has worked by Jean-Guy’s side at one time or another is convinced that he or she was his favourite because Jean-Guy, being the great motivator that he was, made a point of telling each and everyone of us you’re my favourite!,” concluded Paul Legault in his letter of support for his nomination.

One major finding has come out of the meeting between the management of Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec (ACAIQ), the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards and the twelve real estate boards, held in September to review the recommendations contained in Finance Minister Yves Séguin’s Report on the Application of the Real Estate Brokerage Act. All share a common position on the great majority of the government’s recommendations.

As part of the 2004 ACAIQ Education Event held in Saguenay in April, the President of the Canadian Real Estate Association, Samir Bachir, marked the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the Chambre immobilière du Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean by presenting its President, Carol Pedneault (surrounded by his Board members) with a memento. A few minutes earlier, the ACAIQ had presented a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion, held by Mrs. Madeleine Fortin. Also pictured here are Camil Simard, Marjolaine Villeneuve, Jean-Paul Simard, Guylaine Gagnon, David Chiasson and Ginette Gaudreault, all from the Chambre immobilière du Saguenay–Lac Saint-Jean.