From "mother-in-law," to "income opportunity," we’ve seen it all with secondary suites. But these code words are no shortcut to properly identify a legal or illegal suite.

CREB®’s policy is that all advertising with respect to suites, including in the MLS® System, must disclose if a suite is legal or illegal. This policy is to help reduce the public’s misunderstanding and lack of clarity with terms used to describe suites.

When you’re listing a property with a suite, here’s some rules to take note of:

Don’t use jargon

Comments about any listing must be accurate and not misrepresent the property.

Terms like “mother-in-law”, “nanny suite”, "carriage suite", “conforming”, and “non-conforming” are not substitutes for stating if a suite is legal or illegal.

To ensure coverage through REIX, you must clearly indicate the legality whenever the word “suite” is used.

Disclose on all platforms

Proper disclosure goes beyond entering information in the suite field on the MLS® System.

If you choose to reference a suite in the public remarks, in your advertising or on websites, it is imperative that the words legal or illegal accompany every reference to the suite. For example, if you use the word "suite" three times, the word legal or illegal should also be included next to each of these references. 

Scrap the money makers

Avoid terms like “rent down”, “excellent source of revenue”, “income potential”, and “mortgage helper” when describing an illegal suite.

REIX may deny you coverage if you use terms that reference possible income on an illegal suite. If you entice someone to purchase a property under false pretenses, REIX considers this fraud.

Future use, future problems

CREB® requires that all remarks about a property are accurate and reflect its current use.

Avoid mention and promotion of the potential future uses or alterations of a property – this is risky for both the seller and the listing agent. REIX could deny coverage if an issue arose surrounding this type of advertising clam, so avoid terms like “easy to suite” or “potential for suite”.

If the listing agent wants to indicate that a property is zoned for a secondary suite, phrases you can include in a listing are "a secondary suite would be subject to approval and permitting by the city/municipality" or "a basement suite would subject to approval and permitting by the city/municipality". 

Listing policy

If CREB® discovers listings that don't meet the required legality of suite disclosure, or a listing that promotes the potential of a suite, the listing agent will be notified so they can make the appropriate adjustments in a timely manner.

For questions about the disclosure of secondary suites, please contact crebmp@creb.ca.