{"id":118979,"date":"2025-09-04T09:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T09:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/118979\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T09:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T09:49:07","slug":"orea-calls-for-ombudsman-oversight-of-reco-amid-ipro-realty-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/118979\/","title":{"rendered":"OREA calls for ombudsman oversight of RECO amid iPro Realty fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of realtors across the province are demanding ombudsman oversight of the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), the industry\u2019s watchdog, amid the fallout of iPro Realty Ltd.\u2019s multi-million-dollar shortfall<\/a> that froze commissions and client deposits.<\/p>\n

The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA)<\/a>, representing nearly 100,000 realtors, penned a letter to the provincial government highlighting their concerns of how RECO is investigating the Mississauga-based brokerage. <\/p>\n

In August, the real estate watchdog said it would be freezing iPro\u2019s funding<\/a>, after the co-founders of the brokerage were accused of taking about $8 million from the company\u2019s trust account. The investigation started in May, however, and the company\u2019s trust was still operational for four months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, about $720 million of new real estate transactions took place, which all had deposits, which went into this trust account, which was shown to be tampered with,\u201d mortgage broker Ron Butler told CTV News Toronto in a previous interview, expressing his belief that the trust accounts should have been frozen at the onset.<\/p>\n

Freezing the trust account has hung staffers out to dry, as some of iPro\u2019s realtors have told CTV News that they were instructed to make an insurance claim in order to access their commissions and client deposits that are held in the iPro account.<\/p>\n

In light of that, OREA\u2019s letter to Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Minister Stephen Crawford underscores how the livelihoods of iPro\u2019s real estate professionals and their clients have been disrupted, especially amid \u201cgrowing uncertainty\u201d in the housing market. The brokerage had 17 branches, including two in Mississauga and three in Toronto, and employed roughly 2,400 agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe iPro Realty matter has shed light on the importance of transparent and independent oversight of government bodies in fostering a trustworthy and durable consumer protection framework for Ontario families,\u201d OREA President Cathy Polan and Interim CEO Sonia Richards wrote in their joint letter.<\/p>\n

They recommend the province advance the final phase of the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA) to close any \u201cdangerous loopholes\u201d as well as \u201cstrengthen consumer protections and oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter also implores the government to reconsider adding RECO to the purview of the provincial ombudsman, which already oversees more than 1,000 government bodies. Polan and Richards say that, in subjecting RECO to ombudsman oversight, it would \u201cguarantee independent accountability.\u201d <\/p>\n

Citing an Environics Research poll of OREA members in 2024, the letter says 60 per cent agree to have this sort of oversight while just 10 per cent indicated they disagreed.<\/p>\n

On top of this, OREA\u2019s leaders believe a stronger education program would help prepare real estate agents to navigate Ontario\u2019s \u201cincreasingly complex\u201d market. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe unfortunate reality is that licensing education has weakened over the years, leaving new registrants unprepared for the complexities of a modern real estate market,\u201d the letter reads, recommending a two-year mentorship and an articling requirement for those entering the industry.<\/p>\n

OREA says it is committed to working with the government to ensure these reforms can take shape \u201cquickly and effectively,\u201d requesting an immediate meeting with the province on how to carry out regulatory changes.<\/p>\n

Province threatens intervention<\/p>\n

The Ford government has already indicated it would take the reigns of RECO\u2019s audit if it fails to get to the bottom of how iPro\u2019s funds were misappropriated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing this, I will assess whether further oversight measures or remediation are warranted,\u201d Crawford wrote. \u201cIf I am not satisfied with the conduct or the findings of the audit, I will not hesitate to take further measures, including through the appointment of an administrator to assume control of RECO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Provincial police announced Tuesday they have launched an investigation<\/a> into the Mississauga-based brokerage.<\/p>\n

With files from CTV News Toronto\u2019s Jon Woodward<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of realtors across the province are demanding ombudsman oversight of the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO),…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[712,45,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-118979","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}