Privacy Policy

BCREA

To help you sell, buy or lease real estate, REALTORS®, brokerages and real estate boards need to collect, use and disclose some of your personal information. This form provides you with information about, and obtains your consent to, such information handling practices.


DEFINITIONS

Personal Information may include information about your property (such as listing and selling price, lease rate, listing term, etc.). A REALTOR® is a member of a real estate board, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) and of The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). REALTORS® in BC are licensed under the Real Estate Services Act.Brokerage refers to the real estate company where your REALTOR® is licensed. The boards are British Columbia real estate boards that are members of BCREA. REALTORS® provide MLS® services, which are professional to effect the purchase and sale of real estate as part of a co-operative selling system, otherwise known as an MLS® System. An MLS® System is a member-to-member cooperative selling system for the purchase, sale or lease of real estate that is owned or controlled by a board, includes an inventory of listings of participating REALTORS®, and ensures a certain level of accuracy of information, professionalism, and cooperation amongst REALTOR® members


How is my personal information collected?
Most personal information will be collected directly from you through the contracts and other documents you fill out (e.g. Multiple Listing Contract, Contract of Purchase and Sale, Offer to Lease, seller’s Property Disclosure Statement) and through discussions you have with the REALTOR® to whom you are giving this consent. Some information may be collected from other sources such as government departments and agencies (e.g. Land Titles Offices, BC Assessment) financial institutions and mortgage brokers.


To whom may my personal information be disclosed?
Your information may be disclosed to (or may be accessible by) the board and their staff and members, other REALTORS® and their clients, government departments and agencies, financial institutions, legal advisors, service providers, BCREA, the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (RECBC), CREA and members of the public, for the purposes described below. Not all of your information will be accessible to each of the abovementioned entities. For example, once the listing term has ended, the general public will not have access to your information, unless it is otherwise available through public registries or publications (e.g., Land Title Offices, BC Assessment, Realtor.ca)


Why is my personal information collected, used and disclosed?
Your personal information may be collected, used and disclosed for some or all of the primary uses set out below.


  1. To list/market your property on the MLS® System in accordance with the terms and conditions of the MLS® System and the boards.
  2. To allow members of real estate boards (including REALTORS® and appraisers) to value your property.
  3. To market your property through any other media (both print and electronic).
  4. To help you locate a suitable property to buy or lease.
  5. To facilitate the purchase and sale or lease transaction both before and after the completion of your transaction or entering into a lease (including by cooperating with financial institutions, legal advisors, government departments and agencies and third parties engaged in connection with the purchase and sale or lease transaction, such as photographers, appraisers and other service providers, and by communicating with you to coordinate any of the foregoing or to ensure your satisfaction with any of the foregoing and the real estate services provided to you in connection with the transaction).
  6. To allow the boards (including REALTORS®) to compile current and historical statistics on sales and property prices and lease rates, and to conduct comparative market analyses. Information about your property will be retained in the MLS® System and handled in accordance with its and the boards’ terms and conditions and published by the boards from time to time for these purposes after your property has sold or leased or your listing has expired (if you are a seller / landlord) and after you have purchased or leased your property (if you are a buyer / tenant).
  7. To enforce codes of professional conduct and ethics for REALTORS® (by cooperating with the boards, BCREA, RECBC, CREA and other regulatory bodies).
  8. To comply with legal requirements and to act pursuant to legal authorizations.

The above-mentioned primary uses are a necessary part of your relationship with the REALTOR® to whom you are giving this consent.


Will my personal information be collected, used and disclosed for any other purposes?
Your personal information may also be collected, used and disclosed for the secondary uses set out below. These secondary uses are optional. If you do not want your personal information used or disclosed for any of these secondary uses, you may opt out of granting consent.


  1. The REALTOR® to whom you are giving this consent (or their brokerage) may communicate with you in the future to determine whether you require additional real estate services.
  2. The REALTOR® to whom you are giving this consent (or their brokerage) may communicate with you to provide information about other products or services that may interest you.
  3. Other REALTORS® may communicate with you to determine if you require additional real estate services.
  4. The boards, and other REALTORS® or their brokerage (and survey firms on their behalf) may communicate with you to participate in surveys.

You may withdraw your consent to any or all of the secondary uses in the future by contacting the REALTOR® to whom you are giving this consent or that REALTOR’s Board ‘s privacy officer. Contact information for all boards can be obtained from BCREA (website www.bcrea.bc.ca or telephone 604.683.7702).