Transaction Brokerage & Real Estate Licensees

Sept 30 2008 was the deadline for renewing real estate, mortgage and appraisal licenses with the regulator in Alberta.

Not only was this the deadline for real estate licensees to pay up, it also meant they had to have their mandatory education in place. Sounds simple but this licensing period required the courses “Understanding Agency” and “Transaction Brokerage”. As of October 1st , 2008 Alberta becomes the second jurisdiction in Canada (after Nova Scotia) to go the Transaction Brokerage route which effectively eliminates dual agency as an option.

For the past 15 years we have operated under the mode of dual agency in which a REALTOR could represent both a seller and a buyer in the same transaction but only under certain conditions.  Both parties had to accept that representation in writing, and the agent could not disclose the motivation of either party or the price they were willing to pay or accept; other than those two items full disclosure was required. I’m not going to explain transaction brokerage here save to say that I’ll have more to say on it in the future. 

Those who did not complete the courses were either not planning to renew their licenses or we just unable to meet the requirements and ceased to be able to trade in Real Estate as of Sept 30. About 90% of the over 12,000 industry members completed both courses.

My hat's off to everyone in the industry who got it done in time during these challenging times. In March the more expensive Association renewal fees are due - if we're going to see a drop in membership, I expect it will come in the spring.