Council Introduces Advertising Policy Change

The Real Estate Act Rules require that industry members trade only in the name that appears on their licence and in the name of the brokerage with which they are registered. Council policy has always been that other identifiers cannot be used in the course of trading in real estate.

RECA acknowledges that more and more industry members wish to create a brand for themselves or their team in marketing materials. As a result, RECA has been exploring the possibility of such a policy change in order to provide industry members with greater flexibility in their advertising practices. At the same time, though, the ability of consumers and other industry members to easily identify an industry member’s brokerage is too important to consumer protection to completely remove.

After significant discussion and debate over the past year, at its November 5, 2008, meeting, Council approved a motion that will now allow industry members to include other identifiers (i.e. franchise names, team names, a branding name) in their advertisements.

Industry members are cautioned, though, that the industry member’s brokerage name must continue to be clearly indicated on all advertisements, and industry members must ensure they are not holding themselves out as a brokerage if they are, in fact, not licensed as such. Industry members cannot leave the impression through their marketing and advertising that they are a brokerage when in fact, they are not authorized as such.

One way industry members can lessen confusion within their marketing materials is by ensuring that the name of the brokerage with which they are registered is clearly indicated in all materials. This is a requirement of the Rules. An additional word of caution, industry members should avoid the use of identifiers in their branding efforts that people typically associate with brokerages, such as realty and real estate.

Stay tuned to the RECA website for a complete interpretation guideline that further explores this policy change and what it means for industry members.

 

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