Unreserved, an Ottawa-based tech startup, purports to offer greater transparency to home buyers through transparent bidding, but operates outside the laws and code of ethics that govern traditional brokers.Founded in 2021, Unreserved bills itself as a disruptor in the real estate industry.
A home listed for auction by Unreserved. The company says it has sold over 250 properties in Ottawa and other cities in Ontario in its first year of operation. OREA, one of the largest lobby groups in Canada with more than 90,000 members across dozens of real estate boards, called the auctioneers' exemption "a loophole with frightening implications for unsuspecting consumers trying to buy a home" on its website in June., citing "70 per cent of Ontarians support the regulation of auctioneers who would sell homes in an open bidding process.
The other two groups named in Unreserved's lawsuit — OREB and CREA — have also warned consumers about using an online auction platform to buy and sell homes. The civil claim alleges that OREB, OREA, and CREA contacted the Real Estate Council of Ontario , the province's real estate regulator, and later the minister of government and consumer services to lobby for Unreserved's business to be shut down.Mark Morris, a real estate lawyer and a former instructor at the Ontario Real Estate College who is uninvolved in the case, said a court battle over the auctioneers' exemption is inevitable because "there's money in it.
"In fact that's kind of their job," he said. "They are representing a bunch of people who derive great benefit through exclusivity."This latest lawsuit is not O'Connor's first run-in with consumer protection laws. With billions of dollars at stake, the battle over whether or not to allow auction platforms like Unreserved to challenge the traditional real estate establishment will likely be long and costly, according to one real estate law expert.
In 2011, the License Appeal Tribunal of the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council , which regulates all motor vehicle sales in the province, revoked O'Connor's registration, effectively stripping him of the right to sell cars. Similar to OMVIC's role in the world of auto sales, the Real Estate Council of Ontario has the power to levy severe penalties on realtors or brokers that violate its code of ethics or break the law. This can include fines of up to $50,000 and jail time up to two years less a day."So if you can fall under that global exemption, you can almost do whatever you want."
Yep no prejudice in this article, nope, nada, zip, all professional unbiased reporting. Hahahahahahahahahahaha
What a trash article. You mention and re-mention the guys fraud charge from 15 years ago no less than five times throughout the article in an attempt to sully his name and create a narrative. This is tabloid trash journalism.
To balance the story you should also list all realtors who are members of those real estate boards who have been convicted of crimes in the past 😬…
I don’t see how more transparency in the bidding process hurts home buyers and sellers. The real estate industry establishment is just trying to protect their monopoly
I bought a house at an online auction a few years ago. Took me 15 minutes of bidding to get it. Non of this bidding over asking bullshit carrying on for days or weeks. Both sides still use a real estate lawyer of their choice. Been to dozens of live farm auctions too.
Fraud and Ottawa go hand in hand
Is this a news article or a paid advertisement for the real estate boards? I don't know anything about this case but the writer of the article sure wants you to not trust this guy! Have an agenda or what?