We had a lot of member engagement with our April 6 CREB® Talk article on providing one-day codes.
Besides being unprofessional, using one-day codes to provide an unaccompanied buyer with access to a property can get members in trouble with RECA under the Real Estate Act, CREB® under the Harmonized Rules, and the law if any theft, damage or injury occurred.
CREB®’s advice is to simply not do it, and here’s why:
- The Alberta Real Estate Act requires an agent to show that they have proper care and control of a property while it is being viewed. This would be difficult to show if a REALTOR® was not even present. RECA could bring charges under the Real Estate Act.
- Provincial Harmonized Rule Part II 7.01, which CREB® follows, clearly states that without seller instructions, all buyers must be accompanied by either a REALTOR®, the seller or immediate family member of the seller. CREB® will enforce this rule.
- If a member claims they have seller instructions to allow an unaccompanied buyer to enter the property, CREB® will investigate and may require written evidence of informed consent verified by the seller. If written evidence does not exist, CREB® will enforce on this rule.
- CREB® does not recommend relying on the use of seller instructions to avoid being present at a showing. Not only is this unprofessional, but a member could also be liable for property damage, theft or bodily injury occurring during an unaccompanied showing or resulting from the buyer failing to secure the property when leaving.
- Your Errors and Omissions Insurance may not provide coverage for property damage or bodily injury, and your own business insurance policies may not cover it either. Members could personally end up on the hook for a lot of money.
- If a member cannot show that they have done adequate due diligence to verify the identity of the person using the code, they will also be in violation of their SentriLock agreement and CREB® could rescind your lockbox privileges.
For further questions about one-day codes, please contact mp@creb.ca
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