Calgary, Alberta – On March 20, 2007 amendments to the Real Estate Act were introduced in the Legislative Assembly by George Rogers, MLA for Leduc-Beaumont- Devon as Bill 24 - the Real Estate Amendment Act.
While the proposed changes will not directly affect the day to day business practices of industry members, they will significantly enhance the ability of the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) to fulfill its mandate of consumer protection.
Bill 24 enhances the Real Estate Act in the following ways:
clarifies and modernizes key terms used in the Act;
eliminates sections that are out dated or no longer necessary;
provides for increased regulatory flexibility;
removes RECA from the regulation of the sale of businesses;
ensures self-regulation is determined by industry members in Alberta and the process for appointments to Council is fair for all sectors;
eliminates the role of RECA in the approval of prospectuses for the sale of land located outside Alberta;
increases the efficiency of RECA's complaint handling process;
improves RECA's ability to carry out investigations of industry members;
improves RECA's hearing and appeal panel procedures;
clarifies RECA's ability to share information regarding disciplinary decisions;
makes it easier for consumers to make claims against the Real Estate Assurance Fund when their trust funds have gone missing; and,
clarifies the rights of consumers to recover commissions paid to unlicensed persons.
