Request for assistance: Involvement of agency executive officers

Here's what you need to know as agency executive officer about assistance requests.

Will I be informed if my agency broker is targeted by a request for assistance?

As each case is different, the Public Assistance Department analysts do not systematically inform agency executive officers because, sometimes, this could be harmful to the smooth conduct of the investigation. However, if your collaboration is needed, analysts may contact you at any time during the case assessment.

They may also contact you for an urgent, immediate, and preventive action. In this case, the analyst in charge of the case will ask you to take the necessary steps to ensure that your broker’s practice is compliant. A short period will be provided to you to enable you to report to the analyst on the steps taken, the status or the outcome of the situation.

When closing the case, regardless of the conclusion, a copy of the letter sent to the broker concerned by the request is usually forwarded to the agency executive officer to inform him of the analysis outcome. However, if the case is transferred to the Syndic, the agency executive officer may not be notified so as not to interfere with the investigation. 

Important reminder

As  agency executive officer, you must cooperate with the OACIQ and respond to any request made by the Public Assistance Department and the Syndic’s Office.  

When you receive a request, you must also respect its confidentiality. Thus, the broker(s) concerned, and the other stakeholders involved in the case must not be informed.

Your role: Help your agency brokers deal with problems.

Many assistance requests forwarded to the Public Assistance Department can be settled by a simple intervention of agency executive officers.

Should a problem between two brokers from your agency occur, the first thing to do is to talk it over with them. Problems between two brokers from different agencies  can often be resolved much more quickly if  agency executive officers of the brokers concerned had the opportunity to discuss and agree on how to settle the dispute.

We note that most conflicts are resolved quickly and efficiently when the agency executive officer intervenes for the first time to resolve the problem.

Here are two examples:

• A broker wants to present the offer to purchase of the client he represents. He tries many times to reach the seller’s broker to make an appointment. He sends him his request via Immocontact or by email, and still does not get any response. Rather than filing a request for assistance, the broker must talk to you first so you can contact the agency executive officer of the seller’s broker to move things forward.
• Broker A does not honour a commitment made to Broker B (for example, refund the fees for replacing the keys he lost and the lock he damaged to the seller). Broker B should first talk to his agency executive officer so he can contact the agency executive officer of Broker A to inform him of the situation and ask him to intervene to ensure that the promised fees are refunded.

When to file a request for assistance?

If you believe that a violation to the Real Estate Brokerage Act has been committed and public protection is at stake, you can file a request for assistance.