Buyer Representation Agreement Explained (Ontario) Part 12 USE and DISTRIBUTION of INFORMATION
Here is the portion of the paragraph dealing with Use and Distribution of Information.
8. USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION: The Buyer consents to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by the Brokerage for such purposes that relate to the real estate services provided by the Brokerage to the Buyer including, but not limited to: locating, assessing and qualifying properties for the Buyer; advertising on behalf of the Buyer; providing information as needed to third parties retained by the Buyer to assist in a transaction (e.g. financial institutions, building inspectors, etc...); and such other use of the Buyer’s information as is consistent with the services provided by the Brokerage in connection with the purchase or prospective purchase of the property.
The Buyer agrees that the sale and related information regarding any property purchased by the Buyer through the Brokerage may be retained and disclosed by the Brokerage and/or real estate board(s) (if the property is an MLS® Listing) for reporting, appraisal and statistical purposes and for such other use of the information as the Brokerage and/or board deems appropriate in connection with the listing, marketing and selling of real estate, including conducting comparative market analyses.
The Buyer acknowledges that the information, personal or otherwise ("information"), provided to the real estate board or association may be stored on databases located outside of Canada, in which case the information would be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which the information is located.
Part 12 review
I will break up the paragraph and offer my commentary in “italics” as usual.
8. USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION:
The Buyer consents to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information
by the Brokerage
At the outset, this doesn’t seem too bad, name address, phone number, email etc.
for such purposes that relate to the real estate services
This is a very reasonable and expected restriction.
provided by the Brokerage to the Buyer including, but not limited to:
This is the description of the “real estate services”.
locating, assessing and qualifying properties for the Buyer;
It is really just the “qualification” which would require “disclosure”.
advertising on behalf of the Buyer;
There are various “needs and wants” sections on various websites and in written publications. There is also a Buyers’ Registry which would summarize what the buyer is looking for. They are not all anonymous.
providing information as needed to third parties retained by the Buyer to assist in a transaction (e.g. financial institutions, building inspectors, etc...);
These would be parties who would be perceived to be “on the same side” as the buyer, as opposed to the seller.
and such other use of the Buyer’s information as is consistent with the services provided by the Brokerage in connection with the purchase or prospective purchase of the property.
So, the agent here is looking for a little discretion associated with the release of information. It could be the seller, or someone associated with the seller who is requesting the information.
The Buyer agrees that the sale and related information regarding any property purchased by the Buyer through the Brokerage
Here, we are talking upon price and terms of the transaction.
may be retained and disclosed by the Brokerage and/or real estate board(s) (if the property is an MLS® Listing)
Assuming an MLS listing, then, the record of the deal, price and terms assists in the maintenance of the integrity of the system.
for reporting, appraisal and statistical purposes
These are all reasonable requirements. The transaction needs to be reported as “sold” and the property withdrawn from the MLS system. The buyer may now think that he has a vested interest and would like to keep the price and terms secret. Appraisers need the information, so that they can come up with values for other properties.
Statistics need to be produced as well. How many sales? Are the prices rising or falling? These market numbers are important to everyone.
and for such other use of the information as the Brokerage and/or board deems appropriate in connection with the listing, marketing and selling of real estate, including conducting comparative market analyses.
In large measure, this seems pretty much the same as the previous statement. I can’t really think of anything that is covered under the second statement that wasn’t, under the first.
The Buyer acknowledges that the information, personal or otherwise ("information"), provided to the real estate board or association
This is an acknowledgement about information by the buyer.
may be stored on databases located outside of Canada,
That information may be located outside of Canada. That’s probably reasonable considering the role of Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft. Servers somewhere will have the data, and really who knows where that might be?
in which case the information would be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which the information is located.
So, wherever that data happens to be, and no one knows where that is; well, that place would have laws, perhaps, and whatever laws they might happen to have will govern your data. Nobody knows what was just said!
Maybe your data is somewhere up on the Moon, or in the clouds, after all, they do call it the CLOUD. Sorry, all that part of the buyer representation agreement is just nonsense. I assume it makes the Brokerage feel better to have that statement in rather than out.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker
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