Consequences for a real estate agency that does not meet its obligations

The agency executive officer's role is to ensure that the real estate agency meets certain regulatory obligations to keep its record up to date.

These obligations include the following:

• Every year, the real estate agency must carry out its mandatory information update. Remember that if any changes take place during the year, the agency executive officer must inform the OACIQ immediately
• Every year, the real estate agency must pay its licence fees
• The agency executive officer, under his supervisory role, must also ensure that he and agency brokers update their personal information and pay their licence fees every year. To perform the necessary follow-ups, the agency executive officer or one of his agency collaborators may refer to the Monitoring of my brokers tool in the Quick actions section on synbad.com. The information is updated every day
• Also, to the agency executive officer must renew his own real estate broker's licence. He must update his information and pay the annual licence fees via the Online Checkout
• Then, every two years, he and his agency brokers must complete the Mandatory Continuing Education Program (MCEP)

For more details, read the article on the Consequences for the broker who fails to meet his obligations.

Dates to remember 

• Every year, the annual licence renewal period starts in spring and ends on April 30
• The current cycle of the MCEP is from May 1, 2023, to April 30, 2025
• Good to know: The Online Checkout is available during the licence renewal period. It is the easiest way to update agency information and pay licence fees.

If the real estate agency does not comply with these obligations, the consequences will be as follows:

• If it does not update its information, its licence and that of its brokers will be suspended after April 30
• If it does not pay its annual licence fees, its licence will be revoked and the licences of all its brokers will be suspended, retroactively to May 1

If the real estate agency licence is suspended or revoked, the agency will need to:

• Stop carrying out real estate brokerage activities immediately because practising real estate brokerage without a valid licence is considered illegal practice
• Remove all advertising
• Immediately notify in writing the parties with brokerage contracts in progress that the agency, the real estate broker and the brokers acting on its behalf, are no longer authorized to represent them. For this purpose, please read the article Notice – Agency or status change to choose the notice corresponding to your situation (notice N if the agency was a co-lister or notice H in the opposite case, the latter leading to the automatic termination of brokerage contracts due to the cessation of activities of the agency whose licence is suspended or revoked)

To return to practice, the agency executive officer must:

If the real estate agency licence is revoked:

1) Send an Agency licence application to the Certification Department, including:

• The supplementary forms and other documents listed in section V – Declarations of the licence application, if you answered positively to questions in the (Form to be completed in case of conviction – Penal offence and criminal act, Form to be completed in case of conviction – Ethical offence and Form to be completed in case of bankruptcy)
• The payment required for the issue of an agency licence
• The payment of $105 fee to lift the suspension of each agency broker's licence
• The form Request for lifting of licence suspension – Real estate broker  – Real estate agency  – Natural person, where the Declarations section must be completed by all brokers.  This section is used to certify that the notices for all contracts in progress were sent to clients and to declare that the agency executive officer and the agency brokers have not engaged in any real estate brokerage transaction during the suspension period. Otherwise, the Syndic will be informed and may take all the measures he deems appropriate. Finally, it is necessary to wait for the confirmation of the Certification Department, which will arrive a few weeks after sending the duly completed form to be able to resume activities.
  

Note that it is also necessary to complete the section for former agencies whose licence has been revoked on the agency licence application form. For agency brokers, the section Declarations on the Request for lifting of licence suspension form. These sections are used to certify that the notices for all contracts in progress were sent to clients and to declare whether the agency executive officer and agency brokers have engaged in brokerage transactions during the revocation period. If necessary, the Syndic will be informed and may take all the measures he deems appropriate.

2) After the analysis of the Certification Department, the agency executive officer will be contacted by the Inspection Department. He must develop a written compliance program if there is none already implemented within the agency or to adjust the existing one and undertake to comply with it. In both cases, the program must meet the requirements of the OACIQ. For more information on the steps to obtain an agency licence, read this article.

3) Wait the confirmation of the Certification Department a few weeks after taking the above-mentioned steps. Verifications will also be carried out to validate the compliance of the agency’s file. The agency may then resume its activities. 

If the real estate agency licence is suspended:

1. Update the real estate agency’s information
2. Complete the Request for lifting of licence suspension for an agency form and send it to us along with the payment of the $400 fee
3. Pay the $105 fee to lift the suspension of each agency broker's licence
4. Complete, have all agency brokers complete the section Declarations in the Request for lifting of licence suspension – Real estate broker  – Real estate agency  – Natural person form and sent it to the Certification Department. This section is used to certify that the notices for all contracts in progress were sent to clients and to declare that the agency executive officer and agency brokers have not engaged in any real estate brokerage transactions during the suspension period. Otherwise, the Syndic will be informed and may take any measures he deems appropriate
5. Wait a few weeks after sending the duly completed form for the confirmation from the Certification Department before resuming activities

In accordance with section 15 and following of the Regulation respecting records, books and registers, trust accounting and inspection of brokers and agencies, the agency executive officer must submit various important information to the Inspection Department by means of the form Mandatory Declaration – Ceasing of activities by a real estate agency or by a real estate broker acting on his own account. Failure to receive this duly completed form within 15 days, the real estate agency registers and records may be seized and archived by the Organization. In this case, all costs incurred must be paid.