COVID-19 REAL ESTATE UPDATE - JUNE 17

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing has posted proposed complementary and consequential changes to Minister's regulations under the Planning Act and are seeking comments on consequential and complementary changes need to be made to the existing Consent Applications regulation. 

You can find the posting here.

While comments are due by August 23rd, FOLA will be preparing a submission and if you wish to have your comments taken into consideration as we prepare our comments, please feel free to send them to Katie at katie.robinette@fola.ca by August 13th. 

Click here for FOLA's most recent COVID-19 update.

For past COVID-19 updates, click here 

List of banks allowing lawyers to make the payment of mortgage discharges by wire 

LSO guidance on wire transfers and, in particular, who is responsible for the wire transfer fees (Dec 17)

SCJ Notice re: Appeals from the Landlord and Tenant Board in the Divisional Court (Effective August 24, 2020)

SCJ Notice re: filing direction for Commercial List and Estates List matters  (Aug 17)  *applies to Toronto only. The processes in other regions are unchanged  

Direct link to Lawyers Delayed Closing Escrow Agreement Working Group site for the Lawyers Delayed Closing Escrow Agreement  

HERE ARE SOME TIPS

CLOSING REAL ESTATE DEALS DURING A PANDEMIC 

BASIC APPROACH FOR REMOTE SIGNING

As you may know, on March 4, 2020, the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2020 (TRESA, 2020) received Royal Assent. TRESA, 2020 amends the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (REBBA), the legislation that governs real estate brokerages, brokers and salespersons (registrants) in Ontario, setting rules for how they conduct business and interact with consumers. 

In the first phase of this process, regulations were made to allow salespersons and brokers to incorporate and be paid through a personal real estate corporation and to allow real estate salespersons and brokers to use more recognizable terms, such as “agent” and “REALTOR®” in advertisements.

The second phase of regulation development (Phase 2) is currently underway. During this phase, the ministry is developing regulatory proposals to:

1. Update the Code of Ethics regulation (the Code) under REBBA;
2. Transfer procedural and technical requirements from the Code to      other regulations;
3. Enhance disclosure requirements and other registrant obligations to      better protect consumers of real estate services and increase consumer choice; 
4. Update RECO’s regulatory powers and tools, including revising the      procedures of RECO’s discipline committee.

The ministry is proposing changes that would streamline registrant obligations to enhance professionalism and consumer protection. The draft updated Code that is the subject of this consultation would retain and revise the ethical requirements that are set out in the current Code, while the technical and procedural requirements would be moved to the General Regulation or other regulations under REBBA. The updated Code would be principle-based, articulating ethical requirements that registrants must comply with in relation to matters such as integrity, quality of service and conflicts of interest. 

The work necessary to update and transfer the technical and procedural requirements in the current Code will follow at a later date and there will be an opportunity for the public and other stakeholders to provide input at that point.

Further details, including a copy of the proposed updated Code, can be found on the Ontario Regulatory Registry’s website here. 

The ministry is proposing that the Phase 2 regulations, if approved, would come into force on January 1, 2022. 

If you have any questions, please contact the ministry at REBBA@ontario.ca 

On April 23, 2020, the Ontario Government amended an order under s. 7.0.2(4), of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act permitting wills and POAs witnessed virtually (through audio – visual communication) to be signed in counterpart from the date of the order.  It is intended that this order will remain in place until the end of the declared state of emergency.

This amendment simply revokes Schedule 1 of O. Reg 129/20 and replace it with a new Schedule 1 that includes both the virtual witnessing provisions (unchanged since April 7 and in effect for the duration of the state of emergency) and the new counterpart signature provisions, effective from the date of the order onward for the duration of the state of emergency.

You can view the order here and read the legislation here.

On April 7, 2020, the Lieutenant Governor in Council made an order under s. 7.0.2(4), of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act permitting virtual witnessing for wills and powers of attorney provided that at least one person who is providing the service as a witness is a licensee pursuant to the Law Society Act. 

The Order is not retroactive and will be in place for the duration of the declaration of emergency. 

The Order in Council can be found here and on e-Laws, as a regulation under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.

DOCUMENT REGISTRATION AGREEMENTS

In June 2021, the LSO made amendments to the Document Registration Agreements (two party and multi-party).  You can access those documents here.  

BANKING & THE LEGAL PROFESSION

The LSO has sent a letter to the Federal Finance Minister regarding financial services matters (banking) and the legal profession. While they have asked that the letter not be shared, FOLA wanted to let you know that the LSO is taking action on this issue