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Royal Assent given to new Bill 20, The Real Estate Amendment Act (Glubish)
June 3, 2020 — Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish provided details of amendments to the Real Estate Act that will make a better regulator out of RECA (Real Estate Council of Alberta). Check out the video at the end of this article below.
“Eight months ago I stood here to announce I would be bringing forward legislation that would being to put an end to the dysfunctional governance by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA). An independent report from KPMG found that RECA was not providing effective governance and oversight over it’s own administration or the industry it regulates.”
Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish
Bill 20, The Real Estate Amendment Act of 2020, is intended to “increase transparency, improve accountability, and restore good governance to RECA.”
Here’s the press release: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=72516D64B7011-9939-CCDC-4500F0E23CC96EE2
For full details, see the Alberta Government website “Ending real estate regulator dysfunction”: https://www.alberta.ca/ending-real-estate-regulator-dysfunction.aspx
Bill 20 Proposed Legislation Includes Creating 4 Industry Councils
The biggest part of the proposed legislation would set up 4 councils that would oversee their respective industries and report to the board of directors of RECA:
- Residential real esate
- Commercial real estate brokers and property managers
- Mortgage brokers
- Residential and condo property managers
Each council mandate would be to:
- Identify and address emerging industry issues
- Set standard and rules
- Determine licensing and education requirements
Transparency and Accountability for RECA
Minister Glubish identified that there were many problems with dispute resolutions and hearings which further contributed to a breakdown in relationships with the prior RECA council.
“We are requiring the RECA board to establish, through bylaw, a dispute resolution process.”
Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish
To remove a conflict of interest, board members and industry council members would no longer be able to sit on hearing or appeal panels during disciplinary hearings. The hearings would be comprised of public and industry members.
According to Bill 20, RECA must publicly share information such as meeting agenda’s, minutes and compensation levels of staff, “bringing a level of transparency to the regulator”
“I am mindful of the significant economic contribution of the real estate industry. For Alberta’s economy to thrive, we need a strong real estate industry.”
Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish
We couldn’t agree more.
Yes, we have questions
On the video, from 6:24 to 7:00, things got a little awkward.
From the operator being on mute to having no one on the line for questions, it makes you think, “does anyone even care about this?”
YES!!! I suspect the Minister’s issue with a lack of questions wasn’t his content. He might need a new publicity manager though.
Had we known about this press conference, we would have been there.
Because, YES!!! We have lots of questions. So does everyone in the industry.
At Magnum York, we protect our client’s “lifestyle, property, and investment.” That’s the lens we use to view any changes in the real estate and property management industry.
We think Bill 20 is a great step in the right direction! Not without a bit of hesitation mind you … typically, creating additional councils in an industry comes with additional overhead to manage additional regulations, red tape & reporting.
We look forward to seeing the bill progress as well as minimizing the impact on our clients while increasing their trust in their industry regulator.
The Journey Of A Bill To Law
“Government reform does not happen overnight especially of reforms of this magnitude in the wake of significant dysfunction.”
Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish
There is still a bit of a journey for the bill before it comes into force. This was the first reading of Bill 20: Real Estate Amendment Act, 2020 with several more months of deliberation to get through. Follow the action here:
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=bills_status&selectbill=020&legl=30&session=2
Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish Introduces Bill 2020, Real Estate Amendment Act, 2020 [VIDEO]
For a full copy of the introduced Bill 20, click here: https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_30/session_2/20200225_bill-020.pdf
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