Levelling the playing field

A little over ten years ago, a fellow by the name of Harvey Goldmintz came to town and opened a company called Blue Mountain Rentals. Almost overnight the company became quite successful and had more rentals listed on its website than anyone else. But then why would it not?

Under the Real Estate and Business Brokers' Act anyone engaged in the sale, transfer or lease of real estate must be licensed. We must prodigiously abide by all the rules, both ethical and procedural, set out by the Real Estate Council of Ontario in order that the consumer is sufficiently protected from unscrupulous real estate agents. We must also maintain two separate trust accounts which are open for audit by RECO at any time. Mr Goldmintz was free from any of these costly and time consuming restraints.

In 2005 a complaint was lodged with RECO and they agreed to proceed with civil litigation against Mr Goldmintz. In 2008 a judge ruled in favour of Mr Goldmintz and found him not guilty on both counts. The decision was appealed and today, the Supreme Court of Ontario overturned the previous decision and found Mr Goldmintz guilty of illegally trading in real estate without a license with a sentence to be handed down in the near future.

This is a good day for the consumer and a good day for real estate!

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