TREB appeals Competition Tribunal’s order to release sold data

The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) has said it will appeal Monday’s decision by the Competition Tribunal to allow the release of property sold data and pending sold data for broad Internet dissemination without requiring the explicit consent of involved consumers.

“TREB asserts the Tribunal erred in fact and law in determining that TREB has lessened competition,” according to a TREB release. “TREB does not compete in the real estate market. Its rules are designed to foster competition among its 45,000 active members. TREB has always supported competition among its members, as reflected in the market place.”

But therein lies the rub: “among” its members. In May, the Competition Tribunal made a decision heralded by many as the first steps to opening up competition in the industry to include online services while forcing the Board to comply with federal competition rules.

TREB’s restricted use of MLS information amounted to the continued practice of “anti-competitive” acts according to the Tribunal. In effect, TREB practices were such that only traditional real estate agencies had access to vital information on comparatives, effectively stifling innovation in the industry. It has meant that virtual offices, such as the US’s popular Zillow site, could not effectively operate in Canada.

As the basis for its appeal, TREB cites privacy laws and decisions by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that require consumer consent prior to the release of financial information on their home sale. The release also says that its members must be compliant with RECO rules, thereby protecting consumers, and that it holds copyright in the TREB MLS system. The Tribunal, according to TREB, is ignoring these well-supported laws.

“Why should homeowners in the GTA be entitled to less privacy protection over the personal financial information than those homeowners elsewhere in Ontario, elsewhere in Canada?” posits the Board in a release. “This order provides little protection for the consumer and opens the door to misuse and abuse of their sensitive personal financial information and the content of an Agreement of Purchase and Sale contract that has not closed.” Only the informed consumer, the Board says, should determine where and when their personal financial information is disclosed.

TREB says also that other financial information and photographs could then be copied, sold or misused once made widely available on the Internet. The photography issue seems a separate one: whomever owns the copyright should be allowed to decide how the photos are distributed, I should think.

As for the rest, lacking a law degree, I can’t speak to the defence that the Tribunal’s decision is simply flouting the law, and I can see where a purchase agreement that hasn’t yet closed might be a sensitive issue — potentially tipping the seller’s hand to all bidders — but I’m not sure the final selling price of a home is “sensitive personal” financial information.

TREB stipulates in the release that their objection is about “duty of care and professional responsibility,” but opening up the market to innovation is seldom a welcome prospect to those who already corner it. Much as the anti-Tesla (which eschews traditional dealer models in spite of most states prohibiting vehicle sales directly by manufacturers to consumers, requiring purchase through a third-party dealership) movement in the US that’s spearheaded by dealer groups, it smacks of sour grapes.

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Vancouver takes control.

Baby steps they may be, but British Columbia is taking steps to curb the problem in Vancouver of investment properties driving up housing prices by handing the right to tax empty homes over to the city.

Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced Monday that the move was a vote of confidence in city officials to know what their city needs: “It strikes us that if the city wants to do this, it is a reasonable request on their part,” he said. He has requested the provincial legislature reconvene on July 25 to make the necessary changes.

After providing the necessary powers within the Vancouver Charter, de Jong said it would be up to the city to decide on a tax rate, and on what constitutes an “empty” home. The move is aimed at incentivizing owners to put their vacant properties up for rent, in turn alleviating the lack of supply in the Vancouver rental market; although the rental vacancy rate is less than one percent, a city-commissioned report in March said there were nearly 11,000 empty units.

Mayor Gregor Robertson called on the province to also extend the power to other jurisdictions, including Victoria’s Oak Bay. De Jong also announced the province will make necessary legislative changes put forward in a real estate council report recommending the end of self-regulation in the real estate industry.

Of course the measures aren’t enough to curb the city’s insane market speculation, but it’s a start.