September 6th - 2004

RECO Case

The following RECO Complaints, Compliance and Discipline decision been condensed and can be viewed in its entirety on the RECO website at www.reco.on.ca.

Bench ad breaks rules
The following RECO Complaints, Compliance and Discipline decision been condensed and can be viewed in its entirety on the RECO website at www.reco.on.ca.

The case
This case involves violation of several rules regarding advertising and professional conduct under the RECO Code of Ethics. A complaint was made to RECO about a registrant’s local bench ad by another registrant.

The violations occurred because registrant B's name on the bench ad was considerably larger than the name of the real estate firm. The ad also referred to registrant B as "Guelph's #1 Specialist," without any qualifications and no clear indication of his registration status. Accordingly, the brokerage firm, as the employer of registrant B, was found to have acted unprofessionally when it either placed the bench ad or allowed it to be placed and when it allowed Registrant B to disseminate an ad that did not disclose his status as a salesperson and that was false and misleading in that neither the firm nor Registrant B were "specialists."

The registrant, who was also the manager of the firm was found to be in breach of Rule 43 of the RECO Code of Ethics, and the firm to be in breach of the RECO Code of Ethics, specifically Rules 10, 21, 23, 43 & 46.

Rule 10 – Misrepresentation or Falsification – A Member shall not make any statement or participate in the creation of any document or statement that the Member knows or ought to know is false or misleading.

Rule 21 – Advertising – A Member shall ensure that all advertising and promotion by or on behalf of the Member, including for Properties and services, is not false, misleading or deceptive.

Rule 23 – Obedience to Law – A Member shall practice in accordance with all federal, territorial or provincial law or municipal by-law relevant to the Member's fitness to practice.

Rule 43 – Broker Responsibility – A broker shall be responsible for the professional conduct and professional actions of those Members registered with that broker.

Rule 46 – Unprofessional Conduct – A Member shall not engage in an act or omission relevant to the practice of the profession that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by Members or the public as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.

The penalties and costs
Registrant B was ordered to pay a penalty of $1,000.00 within 60 days of the decision of the Discipline Committee.

The brokerage firm was ordered to pay a penalty of $3,000.00 within 60 days of the decision of the Discipline Committee.

The firm must undertake within six months of the decision of the Discipline Committee, that it will put in place a comprehensive office policy to govern practices of its sales representatives/employees and specifically undertakes to take steps to ensure that in all advertisements the brokerage name will appear in a form appropriate to the advertising medium and at a size, in a type face, and in a sufficiently prominent position so that it is clear who is the brokerage and who is the sales representative.

Registrant B and the firm were ordered to pay costs of $1,000.00, jointly and severally, within 30 days of the decision of the Discipline Committee.

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