To Ensure the Fair and Equal Treatment of All Members

General Policy Manual

Approved June 2, 2006 Updated March 2, 2007

400 Woolwich Street Guelph, ON N1H 3X1 (519)824-7270 (519)824-6730 – Fax [email protected] – email

This Policy Manual has been created To ensure the fair and equal treatment of all Members

GENERAL OPERATIONS

1 MISSON STATEMENT:

The Guelph & District Real Estate board is a not for profit organization of Members dedicated to the promotion and participation of MLS®, Education, Professional Standards, Communication and Political Awareness. We support the objective of CREA and OREA for the benefit of all Members.

Applications & Notice of Change

Application for Membership

1. Application for Salesperson Membership must be made within 10 days of an applicant receiving registration or being employed by a Brokerage, with approved forms, accompanied by current fees and proof of registration under RECO.

2. Upon application for Membership to the Board, an applicant will be granted temporary Member status entitled to all privileges and services except that of voting rights, until final approval by the Board of Directors. After final approval Members are required to attend the next scheduled member orientation session.

3. Any new applications, transfers, or terminations of Members and the name of any Member granted a Leave of Absence by the Board of Directors shall be published by the Board to the membership.

4. Before applications for a Brokerage membership in the Guelph & District Real Estate Board are brought before the Board of Directors for approval, all pre-qualifications must have been met.

5 In the event of a withdrawal of an applicant for Membership, prior to approval by the Board of Directors, filing fees and dues submitted shall be returned, less monies owed for Board Services, and/or supplies, received during the contingency membership period.

 See Attachment – “Access to Personal Information Holdings for Members”.  See Attachment – “Challenge Mechanism for Members”.

2 Notice of Change

1. All changes in Membership, Membership status, or Membership classification must be reported by the Brokerage to the Board within fourteen (14) days from the date of the registration change under RECO.

2. In the case of a vacancy of a Branch Manager in a second or Branch Office of a Brokerage, the appointment and receipt of application for his/her replacement must occur within fourteen (14) days, failing which the services of the Board will be terminated to the Brokerage until a qualified Broker Manager or a salesperson who has been registered for at least two years and who is under the supervision of a Broker is appointed and becomes a Member of the Board.

Proof of Valid License

Every Member registered with each Brokerage, is required to provide the Board Office with proof of a valid RECO license, failing which shall result in suspension of membership of that Member.

Suspension of Membership

Upon suspension of Membership, all entitlement to Board services and privileges shall cease immediately, including termination of all MLS services.

Awards & Recognition

Years of Membership

Long Service Membership Pins shall be presented to Members only, and shall be presented at the Annual Meeting following the Member’s completion of ten (10) years of cumulative membership in the Board, and continuing in five (5) year increments thereafter.

35 Year Member Award

Effective October 1, 2000 any Member who has thirty-five (35) years cumulative Membership status in the Guelph & District Real Estate Board, shall have their Annual Board Fee waived.

50 Year Member Award

Effective October 1, 2006 any Member who has fifty (50) years cumulative membership status in the Guelph & District Real Estate Board, shall have their Annual and Monthly Board Fee waived.

3 John Clark Sr. Award

The John Clark Sr. Award is presented to a Member of the Guelph & District Real Estate Board who exemplifies dedication to the industry, co-operation and support to his/her peers and maintains a positive public image with the public through community service. It is not mandatory that the Award be presented each year. The recipient is presented with a commemorative plaque.

A task force will be struck each year to publicize and receive nominations for the John Clark Sr. Award.

Benefits & Services

Annual Audited Financial Statement

One copy of the Annual Audited Financial Statement shall be provided to each Voting Member at least ten (10) days prior to the Annual General Meeting.

Member Acknowledgement

1. In the event of illness of a Member requiring hospitalization, a floral arrangement or fruit basket (cost not to exceed $60.00 /not including taxes and delivery) shall be sent < from the Board by the Board Staff> to the Member.

2. In the event of the death of a Member, a donation (cost not to exceed $100.00) shall be made to the requested charity.

3. In the event of the death of a Member, Annual Dues will be reimbursed to the family of the Member, at a prorated amount.

4. In the event of a death of a Member’s immediate family (comprised of member’s spouse/significant other, children, member’s mother, member’s father), a donation (cost not to exceed $50.00) shall be made to the requested charity.

Member Monthly Fee Includes:

1. Distribution of OREA/CREA and RECO Publications as received. 2. Individual Member billing. 3. Individual Member voting. 4. Access to Board owned and developed website www.gdreb.ca. 5. Input of MLS® listings and amendments to same 6. MLS® database software support 7. Technical and user MLS® Computer support 8. Resource Centre including: library facilities, meeting rooms, computer access, photo copier, and telephones.

4 9. Offering of mandatory education courses and credit tracking system. 10. Access to www.geowarehouse.ca and mpac. 11. Member orientation. 12. Raised Realtor Profile – REALTORS® Community Care – a charity aspect of the Board that will be funded at the rate of $4.00 per sale transaction of all MLS® transactions beginning January 1, 2006. 13. Volunteer Recognition – each year a volunteer recognition task force will make recommendations regarding how volunteers will be recognized for that year. 14. Payment by credit card. 15. Credit Bureau access 16. Access agreements to other Boards with reduced listing fees and free computer access. 17. Representation on behalf of the membership at CREA, CREA PAC, OREA, OREA PAC, Regional SOA. 18. MLS® listings are uploaded to mls.ca for viewing by the public. 19. Member access to www.realtorlink.ca

Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation

Subject to the By-Law provisions, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation, or any similar government agency which/who holds a subscriber Membership in the Board, shall be entitled to receive the MLS Bi-weekly Catalogue and other such Board services to be approved by the Board of Directors, at such costs as set by the Directors.

Fees & Dues

Membership Fees

1. The Board will directly bill each individual Member for all fees and dues on a monthly basis. 2. Membership fees for all membership categories shall be for the fiscal year October 1st to September 30th. 3. Members will be billed each January for their OREA and/or CREA dues. 4. All invoices issued by the Board are payable upon receipt. All amounts owing to the Board are due on the last Friday of each month. 5. Accounts outstanding after the close of business on the last Friday of each month are subject to a late payment fee/penalty of $10.00. 6. A notice to remind Members that all amounts owing to the Board are due on the last Friday of the month shall be posted on the Board website. 7. Any Member who issues a cheque to the Board, which is returned for any reason, shall be charged an administration fee of $25.00 and a late payment charge of $10.00 to be added after the last Friday of the month if payment remains outstanding. 8. The Executive Officer will not allow any Member to deviate from the payment of dues and fees as set out by the Board of Directors.

5 9. It is the policy of the Guelph & District Real Estate Board NOT to issue refunds of fees and/or dues to Members (Except in the case of item 1 b) found in the Leave of Absence Policy) 10. It is the policy of the Guelph & District Real Estate Board NOT to waive payment of late fees. 11. Non payment of dues will be dealt with as per Article 4 of the Guelph and District Real Estate Board By-laws.

Orientation & Training

Member Orientation

1. Failure to attend the Member Orientation shall be grounds for termination of Membership. Forfeiture of all fees and dues paid, will be in accordance with the provisions of the By-law of the Board. 2. The Brokerage shall be notified in writing of the employee’s failure to comply and the membership termination of that person. 3. Upon reinstatement, where a Member of the Board has attended the Member orientation courses during the twelve (12) months preceding their current application, then further attendance at the orientation may be waived at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

Leave of Absence

The Board of Directors may in their sole discretion, grant exemption from payment of monthly Board fees, to a Member for illness, accident, maternity, paternity or adoption. Provided that all criteria have been met and the Member agrees to the following terms:

1. In accepting a Leave of Absence, the Member warrant that he/she will not engage in any real estate activities whatsoever.

2. All Board and MLS services shall be suspended during the period of the Leave. The Members name shall remain on the membership roster and continue to be published in the bi-weekly MLS® Catalogue.

3. Any incorrect information provided by the applicant with regard to the Leave shall constitute a violation of the Board Policy and shall result in all monies previous exempt becoming immediately due and payable. If payment of such monies is not forthcoming the Directors shall take such disciplinary action as deemed necessary. 4. All outstanding fees must be paid in full by the Member before being reinstated after a Leave of Absence.

 See Leave of Absence Policy

6 Multiple Listing Service  See GDREB Rules and Regulations

Commission and Contracts

The Board and/or its MLS® software provider does NOT:

1. Fix, control, recommend or suggest commission rates or fees for services rendered by Members. 2. Fix, control, recommend or suggest any percentage division of commission or fees between co-operating Members or between Members and Non-Members. 3. Intend or imply the existence of any contractual relationship between it and the seller.

Lock Boxes

Combination lock box codes are to be paged out to the member after being confirmed by the Listing Brokerage.

Listing Processing

To maintain the integrity of the Board’s MLS® database:

a) MLS® listings can be faxed or brought in to the Board Office.

b) Listings are processed in the order that they are received at the Board Office.

c) Exceptions will be made for listings with viewings, only if necessary.

d) Member listings will be processed before Non-member listings.

e) Listings that are submitted by Members of the Board with missing legal information shall not be processed. An incomplete form shall be faxed to the Broker and the contract page must be changed and initialed by the seller and faxed back to the Board before the listing will be processed.

f) Listings that are otherwise incomplete or illegible are processed with the information provided.

g) The listing is then input into the computer system and the system assigns the listing a MLS® number.

h) Members can directly upload their own viewings into the system. Staff will input a viewing for a Member, upon request.

i) Members can directly upload the property photos into the system. Staff will scan and upload photos upon request.

7 j) Beginning March 1, 2006 if a listing is missing any mandatory fields a Member will be sent an incomplete notice. The Member will then have 2 business days (by 5:00 p.m.) to provide the missing information; or a letter with a reasonable explanation of why the information is not available. After the deadline, a $5.00 per day processing fee will apply.

Incomplete notices are faxed to the brokerage office. It is the member’s responsibility to make sure all mandatory fields on their listings are complete. A courtesy phone call may be made by Board staff, as time permits, to the member, only as a reminder of the outstanding listing information.

The following are the mandatory fields for residential listings:

Title: Freehold, Condominium, Leasehold, Co-op, Pad Rental, Timeshare, Other

Address: Street number and Name

Unit number:

City/Town:

Postal Code – available online at www.canadapost.ca

District : Guelph, Puslinch, Halton, Guelph-Eramosa, Centre Wellington, Mapleton, Wellington North, Outside Board.

Map Area: Guelph sub 1, Guelph sub 2, Guelph sub 3, Guelph sub 4, Guelph sub 5, Guelph sub 6, Guelph sub 7, Guelph Sub 8, Guelph sub 9, Guelph sub 10, Guelph sub 11, Guelph sub 12, Puslinch Twp, Halton, Guelph Eramosa West, Guelph Eramosa East, Rockwood, Centre Wellington West, Centre Wellington East, Mapleton, Wellington North, Outside Board.

CREA 04: The Board staff will input this field until further notice.

Sellers: 1st name, last name-all individually

County:

Township:

List Price:

8 SB commission:

Monthly Condo Fee:

Date Listed:

Expiry Date:

Holdover Clause:

Office Number:

Listing Broker:

Salesperson number:

Salesperson Name:

Zoning (Specific): zoning books are available from the City of Guelph

Assessed Value: accessible through mpac on the geowarehouse.ca website Assessed Year: accessible through mpac on the geowarehouse.ca website

Taxes:

Tax Year:

Lot size or Acres: accessible through mpac on the geowarhouse.ca website

Roll number: available on geowarehouse.ca website

Sqft above grade: square footage +

Legal description: available on geowarehouse.ca website

Total Bedrooms Up/Down:

Total Bathrooms Up/Down:

Ensuite: number or none

Type: Detached, semi-detached, link, townhouse, apartment unit, duplex, triplex, 4 plex, mobile home, farm, lots/acreage, recreational.

9 Style: bungalow, raised bungalow, backsplit, side split, multi-level, 1 storey/apt style, 1.5 storey, 2 storey, 2.5+ storey.

Basement: full, part, crawl, none, fully finished, partially finished, unfinished, walkout, walkup.

Construction: concrete block, concrete reinforced, metal, solid brick, stone, wood frame, unknown, windows-aluminum, windows-storm, windows-thermo, windows-vinyl, windows-wood.

Foundation: brick, concrete block, concrete poured, none, post & pad, slab, stone, wood, unknown.

Possession: 30 days tba, 60 days tba, 90 days tba, 120 days tba, immediate, subject to tenancy, or a specific date.

Financing: STD own expense, clear, assume w/qualif., must be assumed, SLR may buydown, SLR may carry, trade/exchange.

Roof: asphalt-shingle, asphalt rolled, cedar, fiberglass shingle, flat, metal, slate, tar & gravel, tile, other.

Exterior Finish: aluminum, asbestos, brick, brick facing, concrete, concrete block, insulbrick, log, low maint & fascia, stone, stucco, vinyl, wood, other.

Water: municipal, co-operative, well-drilled, well-dug, cistern, none, other.

Waste Disposal: sewer-municipal, sewer-private, septic, holding tank, treatment plant, none, other.

Survey: survey available, survey none, survey unknown, boundary survey only.

Occupancy: Owner occupied, tenant occupied, under construction, vacant.

Uffi: Installed, removed, not installed, unknown.

Room Options: at least one room and measurements must be filled in.

Garage Type: attached, detached, none.

Monthly Fee Includes: bldg insurance, cable tv, common elements, electricity, heat, parking, property taxes, water, see remarks.

Property Manager Name:

10 Photos: a photo is mandatory on all residential listings. The REALTOR® sign for the property may take up only 10% of the photo (added BOD meeting Mar.2/07)

k) Members are able to edit the remarks section of their listings, therefore only the first 250 character will be input the Board staff. As per Article 2 2.07 of the Rules Regulations there is no personal advertising allowed in the remarks section of the listing. Listings are checked on a quarterly basis for violations. Failure to comply by any member will be considered a breach of the Board’s Rules and Regulations. Violations will be sent to the Professional Standards Committee, which will result in a fine of one hundred dollars for the first offence.