At a glance (3 minute read)

• The Rules of Cooperation are changing on October 17, making the DRPO irrevocable.
• This change is designed to increase public confidence in our profession.

Your Board of Directors approved changes to the Rules of Cooperation to make a seller’s instruction to delay the presentation of offers an irrevocable instruction effective October 17, 2022. 

To help you understand the change, and other rule changes, we've created a guide with a side-by-side comparison between the new  and existing rules:

• View the PDF
• View the web version

This change is designed to increase public confidence in the way our profession handles offers from competing buyers. The Fraser Valley and Chilliwack real estate boards have also approved the change.

The default setting under Rule 4.02 is that offers must be presented “without delay.” If that’s what your seller wants, you don’t need to take additional actions. If your seller wants to override the standard rule, you must use the new Irrevocable Direction Regarding Presentation of Offers (IDRPO) form. 

We're uploading this new form to WEBForms on October 12, and will remove the current DRPO form on October 17.

Under the revised rule, once your sellers sign the IDRPO form, you cannot present or advise them about any early offers. This means that you must present all offers on the date noted on the IDRPO form, not before. This instruction cannot be rescinded.

Manitoba has implemented this approach and we’ve heard that it provides greater clarity and certainty for everyone involved in the process.

Making a seller’s DRPO instruction irrevocable also removes a complicated protocol that members had to follow when sellers receive an early offer and change their minds about their DRPO.

Before even presenting that early offer, under the existing rule, you and your client need to:

• complete a new DRPO with the early date on it;
• amend the REALTOR® Remarks with this information; and
• contact every buyer’s agent that’s requested in writing to be notified of these changes.

By making the DRPO irrevocable (IDRPO), you and your clients will follow a more straightforward process.

The record-breaking housing market activity we experienced during the pandemic raised member and public concern about how the profession’s rules deal with multiple offers, delayed offer presentations and the scarcity of information from seller’s agents as to the number of offers received. 

Over the last year, we conducted public research and consulted Realtors, Brokers, and legal counsel to understand these concerns and improve how Realtors log, validate, and share information on the number of offers made on a home.

Through this research, it became clear that some members don’t fully understand their obligations when early offers come in and a delayed offer presentation date has been signed. Mishandling these situations creates a public perception that buyers aren’t always treated fairly. 

“In a hot market, multiple offer situations cause frustration and ill-will,” says Jeff King, REBGV CEO. “Rather than leave it to government to insist on solutions, we want to define new standards and processes to handle these scenarios. The goal of this work is to increase transparency and accountability and decrease buyer and Realtor frustration with the process, which is good for everyone,” 

As we shared with you in the spring, we’re also continuing to work on a new mandatory “List of Offers and Counter-offers Presented” form to provide greater transparency for buyers and their Realtors when multiple offers have been presented. 

We anticipate implementing this form in the next few months.

The form would itemize the date and brokerages involved in all competing offers. The listing broker and the seller would be required to sign this form. The listing Realtor would then need to provide it to the buyers’ agents, who submitted offers, shortly after one of the offers/counter-offers has been accepted.

This form has not yet been finalized. We’re still working on the details with the other boards and will update you when this work is complete.