Tag Archives: competition tribunal
Competition Bureau loses online-listings case against Toronto Real Estate Board
Tara Perkins – The Globe and Mail
The Competition Bureau has lost a high-profile attempt to force the Toronto Real Estate Board to make it easier for web-based real estate brokerages to compete, a case that was being closely watched across the country.
Comment: No, it was an attempt to make us share our database – the one we created, the one we paid for – with everyone. For free. It was a simple case, it was decided correctly.
The Bureau said late Monday that its case has been dismissed. A spokesman said that an appeal is possible.
Comment: Yes, because certain people will not rest until they destroy the real estate industry.
The case, which had been years in the making, came after the Bureau accused the nation’s largest real estate board, which represents about 35,000 agents, of anti-competitive practices. It alleged that the board was unfairly keeping data about home sales away from online services that threaten to compete with real estate agents and potentially eat into their commissions.
Comment: Yes, we were in trouble for keeping our own database of sales, sales by our members. Go to your local car dealership and ask them for Ford’s sales data for the past couple of years. In fact, demand it. Then sue them for it. That is exactly what was happening to us. Try forcing that same dealer to let you sell your car – on their lot. Same thing. We were supposed to let just anyone sell whatever they wanted on OUR system. It is ours, we built it, end of story. You want in, then hire a realtor. Or sneak in the back way with Property Guys or something other discount brokerage.
The matter was heard by the Competition Tribunal last fall, and the decision had been pending since then.
The Tribunal’s brief order, released to parties involved in the case on Monday,suggests that the Bureau filed under the wrong section of the Competition Act, and that a case argued under a different section of the Act (under which less extensive remedies would be allowed) could have been more successful.
Comment: As I said, people will not rest until I am out of a job. Thanks!
“This was a classic case of a legal technicality where nothing gets resolved,” said Lawrence Dale, head of real estate business at Zoocasa. “The Tribunal said the case was filed under the wrong section and has now steered the Bureau to re-file under the correct section. Once these technicalities are addressed, the fundamental issues still remain to be determined. How long that takes to get resolved is anyone’s guess.”
Comment: Hopefully we get the same decision ever faster this time.
For its part the Toronto Real Estate Board had argued that it was upholding privacy laws and protecting the personal information of home buyers and sellers.
Comment: Which was stupid. To be honest, I don’t know a single client of mine who would want all of their information out there for anyone to access. People’s names, what they paid for properties, when they bought, you name it. People do not want to share that information. But at the end of the day, it still comes down to it being our system. We built it, we own it. If you want on the Property Guys website, you have to pay them. If you want on MLS, you have a pay a real estate agent. I do not see how this is a hard concept to grasp. Mr. Dale is still mad over losing a lawsuit 10 years ago for misusing trademarks that were not his. Since then he has made it his life’s crusade to destroy real estate as we know it. If he succeeds, some 35,000 people will lose their jobs. Why is no one talking about that?
The case could have implications for real estate boards across the country, and the Tribunal’s decision comes at a time when home sales are now in a slump. Following a lengthy investigation the Bureau had filed its case in 2011, a year in which more than $40 billion worth of properties changed hands in the Greater Toronto Area via the Multiple Listing Service, earning the city’s real estate agents an estimated $2.2 billion. The Bureau had noted that the top five agencies earned more than 70% of the commissions in recent years, with two alone – Re/Max and Royal LePage – responsible for more than 40% of them.
Comment: How do you figure there was 5.5% paid out in commission? I rarely see 5% anymore, usually it is more like 3.5%. I think the real figure is more like $1.4-1.6 billion. Nice exaggeration, as usual.
The bureau argued that the real estate board, which operates the Toronto Multiple Listing Service system, had a stranglehold on the most accurate and up-to-date data about home sales and that rules restricting how real estate agents provide that information – including previous listings and previous sales prices – were anti-competitive because they deny agents the ability to set up new online services such as virtual office websites (VOWs). VOWs are password-protected sites on which consumers can search data on listings.
Comment: Yes, we have a great database of sales information compiled by our members working with their clients. We have no data on sales outside of MLS, that data belongs to others. Again, we created the data, we have no obligation to share it with those not willing to hire a realtor.
Rokham Fard, co-founder of TheRedPin.com, said that if the Bureau had won the case his firm would have been able to put data about what homes have sold for in the past online. Right now consumers can request it from an agent in person, or by email, fax or phone, but cannot look it up themselves on the web.
Comment: And hopefully it stays that way forever. Even those fighting to open this all up, I doubt they want all of their personal information out there… And it certainly sets a terrible precedent for any organization or company that has compiled proprietary data through the course of their business. Courts could suddenly rule that this information, their property, was suddenly public domain. That would be a tragedy of epic proportions.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416-388-1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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MLS house information seen as private
Toronto Real Estate Board seeks to have public barred from Competition Tribunal hearing
By Susan Pigg – Toronto Star
The Toronto Real Estate Board is sticking so vociferously to its claims that Multiple Listing Service information routinely handed out by its own agents is such a violation of privacy in the wrong hands, Monday it tried to have the public removed from a Competition Tribunal hearing.
Comment: No, we hand out different information to clients, for just that reason. There are two different versions of any listing, the “brokerage” version and the “client” version. The copy we give to clients does not have any names on it, nor mortgage info, commission info, etc. Only the details that are pertinent to the client and that are not privacy protected. Trust me, we have 100s of lawyers who scrutinize EVERYTHING we do – and they ensure that we do not disclose information that we are not supposed to.
In the face of objections from the Competition Commissioner’s legal counsel and media covering the hearing, Tribunal chair Justice Sandra Simpson agreed that no one would be barred from the hearing.
But she asked that MLS data on a handful of homes for sale as of Sept. 17 be edited to remove a number of details before being entered into the public record.
That included virtual tour photos of the interior of the homes, the names of the homeowners, mortgage and commission information that is more often than not on MLS listings that traditional “bricks-and-mortar” realtors give out to clients.
Comment: No, even the emails we send to clients are the edited versions. The printouts I give them are the edited versions. I have had clients ask me for my copies and I refuse, they contain private information. This is the problem with this whole argument, the people talking the most about it do not have all of the facts.
On the surface, this case is meant to determine if Canada’s largest real estate board has abused its market dominance, as has been suggested by both former Competition Commission Melanie Aitken and a major study by a U.S. economist that says TREB is trying to protect traditional GTA realtors from new competition to protect the $2.2 billion they made in commissions last year.
Comment: Abused what? We created an online database that we use to buy and sell properties. Same as Property Guys and their website. Why is ours being punished, just because it is the largest? There are enough “self-serve” brokerages out there now, anyone can get their listing on our MLS system. This whole thing gets dumber by the day…
But the real crux of the issue is whether real estate boards can maintain their exclusive control of the MLS system and deny critical information, such as data on previous sales, to new online competitors seeking to create so-called Virtual Office Websites (VOWs) and cheaper a la carte services to consumers keen to do their own homework.
Comment: Our system, our database – our data. It is as simple as that. People just want everything for free, they want all of our information without having to pay us a cent. And that is simply not fair.
The Toronto board “started to pay attention” to the concept of VOWS and new online realty services about 2003, TREB chief executive officer Don Richardson testified Monday.
But wasn’t until July 2010 that TREB looked at the issues in earnest and March 2011 until it appointed a task force. Part of the delay was because of a major antitrust case in the U.S. between the Justice Department and the National Association of Realtors, said Richardson. That case resulted in a significant opening up of realty listing information and, as a result, the creation of new online players such as redfin.com and zillow.com.
TREB eventually decided to use that agreement as a template and in November, 2011, under intense pressure from Ottawa’s Competition Commissioner, okayed the creation of VOWS, but with limitations on the MLS information they can post online.
TREB has stressed repeatedly that its greatest concern around VOWs is violations of privacy. But it wasn’t until this spring, Richardson testified, that TREB approached the federal privacy commissioner, asking if she or an associate would speak at a national realtors’ conference.
The commissioner declined. About a month ago, TREB followed up by sending her office an email, hoping to get answers to a list of frequently asked questions around privacy, said Richardson.
The commissioner’s office claims they never received it, he added.
The hearing continues Tuesday.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
—————————————————————————————————–
Incoming search terms
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Message from Don Lawby
The Canadian Real Estate Association and the Competition Tribunal
At CENTURY 21 Canada, acting in the best interest of home buyers and sellers is a pillar of our business. We believe that the MLS system protects the standards and integrity of the real estate industry and the safety of Canadian consumers, for whom buying or selling a home is likely the most significant transaction they will make in their lifetimes.
The real estate market in Canada is and will continue to be highly competitive. Canadians selling their homes today can choose from a variety of business models, listing options and compensation/commission structures. CENTURY 21 Canada advocates that consumers should remain protected by real estate industry standards of conduct and ethics, which is at the cornerstone of what the current MLS system offers.
I support the rules amendments accepted by CREA members on Monday, March 22, and believe they satisfy concerns expressed by the Competition Bureau while preserving the integrity of our industry. False or misleading information has found its way onto many well-intended publicly accessible information and advertising sites, with little recourse for consumers.
CENTURY 21 Canada Key Messages
1. Canadian consumers have always been free to choose from different service and advertising options when selling their homes.
CENTURY 21 sales representatives pride themselves on providing full service to clients through the selling process. CENTURY 21 sales representatives are not opposed to posting listing information on MLS on behalf of clients, for a fee, but believe that most clients will continue to want a more comprehensive range of services to assist them in selling their homes.
2. The MLS System is trusted by CENTURY 21 sales representatives as a source for accurate and reliable listing information for clients.
Our biggest concern is the preservation of the integrity of this System. MLS was created for use by Realtors, who are bound by ethical and legal standards set forth by their licensing bodies. The MLS System’s integrity is maintained because sales professionals who upload misleading or false information to the System can lose their livelihoods or, at minimum, their reputations. It is impossible to enforce these standards on non-licensed sales professionals and the public, to protect what is likely the largest financial transaction a person will make in a lifetime.
3. CENTURY 21 Canada supports CREA’s defence that MLS Rules in no way limit consumers’ options or bind them to full-service fee models.
There are many commission and compensation structures in the industry, but CREA has never dictated what Realtors can charge their clients, or for what services. CENTURY 21 sales representatives are free, like all Realtors, to negotiate fees and service options with individual clients. It is also a myth that discount real estate service providers are prohibited access to the MLS System.
Questions and Answers for Consumers
1. What is MLS and why am I not able to access it?
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is an online business tool developed for Realtors, including CENTURY 21 sales representatives, to upload and share listing information on properties and collect market data. There are multitudes of MLS sites across the country, each operated by different Real Estate Boards. Generally, a local Realtor includes the MLS as part of his or her overall service contract. The Canadian Real Estate Association created an advertising website, www.realtor.ca, so that consumers and real estate sales representatives could view all MLS listings in one place and contact agents associated with those listings.
CENTURY 21 Canada also has agreements with Real Estate Boards across Canada to collect MLS data. That data enables us to provide detailed and accurate property information on all our sales representatives’ sites at Century21.ca.
2. With the new CREA rules, can I now post my home on the MLS system without going through a Realtor?
No. The MLS was developed as a member-to-member platform for licensed Realtors. Like all Realtors, CENTURY 21 sales representatives are bound by ethical and legal standards of conduct, which applies to listing information published on the MLS. The MLS has become such a strong brand because of the integrity of its information. While CENTURY 21 Canada isn’t opposed to posting listings to the MLS for a fee, allowing direct public access to the MLS risks undermining industry standards, as well as the security of potential home buyers – virtually every public advertising site runs the risk of exposing its customers to scam artists and unscrupulous sellers.
3. So, when will I be able to pay you just to list my home on the MLS?
You have always had that choice. All real estate service fees are negotiable between Realtors and their clients. As well, a consumer has the option to list their property for sale on a range of websites that don’t require the assistance of a licensed real estate agent. CENTURY 21 sales representatives aren’t going to prevent clients from choosing this option; however, we would discourage individual home owners from publishing their properties online
without a clear plan as to how they are going to manage the sales process, qualify prospective buyers and complete the required documentation for closure.
4. Why do Realtors charge so much commission for providing services that I could just as easily do myself?
Realtors receive extensive training to be licensed to operate in Canada and work hard for the commissions they earn. The vast majority of Realtors are not getting rich on commission fees. According to the National Real Estate Association 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 69% of homeowners who chose to go the ‘for sale by owner’ route indicated that they did so to avoid paying commission fees; and 74% of those reported having difficulty with the selling process. Getting the price right, preparing a home for sale, understanding and completing paperwork and selling within the length of time planned were common difficulties expressed by survey respondents. Buyers are aware of the value of commission fees, and will often offer less than market value on ‘for sale by owner’ listings. There is value in hiring an agent with superior sales skills and knowledge of your market.
5. Why is the Canadian Real Estate Association trying to stop consumers from being able to choose the services they want to sell their homes?
This is a myth that has gained momentum because of the Competition Bureau issue. The MLS was created by CREA for its members to post their listings and share data. Like with any competitive business landscape, there is an array of online advertising choices other than the MLS for independent home sellers, including social media sites, Craigslist and Kijiji. As well, Canadians have always had the option to compare and negotiate real estate service fees offered by different business models.
6. When do the new rules come in? Should I wait until then to list my property for sale?
The new MLS rules voted on by members of the Canadian Real Estate Association on March 22 are now in the process of being ratified by provincially-based real estate boards. The process could take a few months to complete, as some Boards will have to call general meetings to revise their rules. It may take up to a year for a decision to be made by the Competition Tribunal of Canada, and that could be followed by an appeals process. With interest rates anticipated to rise by mid-2010, coupled with the introduction of the HST in BC and Ontario on July 1st, waiting to sell your home – with or without a Realtors – might net you a lower selling price or increase the time it takes to sell your home. In addition, the rules and regulations that are in the process of being amended reflect service options that are already available today.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Incoming search terms
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