What you sign before an Alberta agent works for you

Dog-ears

Alberta's regulator draws a line between a client and a customer, and the line is a signature. Two questions below, both answered from the Real Estate Council of Alberta's own consumer material and from the standard residential purchase contract.

Do I have to sign anything before an agent shows me a house?

A licensee can work with you without a written service agreement, and Alberta's regulator is direct about what changes when you sign one. RECA describes a client as someone who has signed an agreement obliging the licensee to act in their best interests and to advise and support them through the transaction. A customer receives limited services and general information, and is not represented by the licensee.

The agreement is the specification. RECA says it sets out what the licensee will do for you and how they will be paid, and its buying page points readers at sample agreements to look at before signing one.

The purchase contract assumes the arrangement is settled before an offer goes in. Clause 3.1 opens by saying that unless the seller, the buyer, or both have agreed to alternate representation, each of them is represented by their own sole agent. The rest of that sequence is on our page about making an offer.

The commitment lands on the agreement, and the agreement names how the licensee is paid.

Am I hiring the agent or the brokerage?

The brokerage. RECA's consumer material puts it plainly, that when you hire a real estate or mortgage licensee you are hiring their brokerage, meaning the company, and the licensee represents that brokerage. The agreement is made with the company, and the individual works under it.

The distinction decides who can act for you. Under a common law brokerage, anyone from the brokerage can step in. Under designated agency, only the agent or agents named for you represent you.

Verification runs at the same level. RECA ProCheck returns whether a licensee is licensed and in good standing, and whether the licence covers the work you are asking for.

Conditions are written rather than assumed. Clause 8.1 of the purchase contract makes a condition effective only where it carries an agreed Condition Day, and it puts the cost of a condition on the party who asked for it.

Every community page on this site sits under the full neighbourhoods index, and none of that reading requires an agreement.

ProCheck takes a name.