Effective today, the province has introduced new regulations governing Realtors. They didn’t change the law of the contract (where assignments are expressly allowed under the Law and Equity Act), but require that more drafting and disclosure be made by Realtors.
All Realtor drafted contracts (residential and commercial) should contain the following:
- this contract must not be assigned without the written consent of the seller; and;
- the seller is entitled to any profit resulting from an assignment of the contract by the buyer or any subsequent assignee..
(Note: These are the official statements and I note this “drafting” is quite poor, some contractual definition of PROFIT and ASSIGNEE is required).
There remains a discussion to be had on how this effects Limited Dual Agency –the presence or absence of the “Assignment Provisions” may in some factual circumstances relate to a discussion of a party’s “motivation”… if that is the case, the Realtor should consider whether LDA is a viable option (note: in my opinion, I think we are also going to see LDA rule changes arising out of the committee work that is currently ongoing).
Have a great week!
Peter Borszcz, Kelowna Real Estate Lawyer