Officially, he’s the manager of business practices. Unofficially and more to the point, Don Dickson is the complaint department for the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Calgary Herald ArchiveRead all documents in a real estate transaction to protect yourself.

And with the dramatic changes that have affected the region’s resale housing market — and with more changes expected as 2009 progresses — Dickson is geared up to listen to concerns, issues and gripes from consumers and those working the front lines of resale housing.

“My phone rings about 800 times a month, and probably 20 per cent of them are from consumers looking for information or to register a complaint,” he says from his office. “They’re looking for answers about pricing, the relationship with their realtor, commission rates, or documentation that has to be filled out.” Dickson, who had more than 30 years under his belt as a broker before taking up his new position with the board, says the main issue coming from consumers is prices.

His phone will ring and someone will tell him the realtor said that the asking price would have to be reduced to move things along — to increase traffic and get the home sold.

The consumer, though, doesn’t like the idea of having to cut the price and complains to CREB about it.

“People don’t believe where prices have gone, that the market is so much more different than it was just over a year ago,” says Dickson.

“I try to explain to them the changes that have come about. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

In her inaugural address to some 1,000 realtors, CREB president Bonnie Wegerich forecast the average price of single-detached homes to fall another $9,000 this year, on top of a drop of nearly $12,000 in 2008.

On the condo side, the average could drop another $15,000 this year after seeing a price decline of about $14,000 last year. “But there are people out there who still don’t understand the change in pricing,” says Dickson.

At this point, there are a few options open to the consumer.
He or she can accept the explanation, set in motion a negotiated agreement with the realtor to terminate the listing contract, or can initiate an fullblown inquiry by the board’s complaint committee into the realtor’s actions.

In addition to learning how to deal with the changing market, consumers also have to take the time to read and understand documentation that comes with real estate transactions, says Dickson.

The purchase agreement, which at one time consisted of a single page, has now grown to six.

Then there is the paperwork having to do with agency relationships — what the realtor’s responsibility is to his client and vice versa.

And then there is the newest document, which goes by the acronym FINTRAC. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) is an independent federal government agency that will operate at arm’s length from law enforcement agencies.

FINTRAC’s mandate is to collect, analyze and disclose information to help detect, prevent and deter money laundering and terrorist financing in Canada and abroad.

The Canadian Real Estate Associations got into some lengthy negotiations with the federal government regarding the release of certain pertinent personal data.

For any purchase or sale of real estate, an identification record must be created by the realtor, take steps to verify the identification of the client, and keep related records if there is a third party involved or if the client has not been met face to face.

“Our industry got very involved with this legislation because of the some of elements involved,” says Dickson. “Originally, FINTRAC wanted us to get the client’s social insurance number as part of the identification process — and neither our people or the clients wanted anything to do with that.”


Dickson says it’s imperative that clients take the time to read all of the documentation involved with selling or buying “just to protect yourself.”