Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 (TRESA)온타리오 부동산 중개법

What is it?

TRESA (the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002) is the Ontario law that sets out how real estate agents (salespersons and brokers) and brokerages must work. RECO calls it consumer protection legislation. It bans trading without registration, requires client money to be held in trust, and sets the duties agents owe to the people they serve.

TRESA does not regulate buyers and sellers. It regulates agents and brokerages in order to protect consumers. So if an agent breaks it, RECO can discipline them, but money disputes between a buyer and a seller are a matter for the contract and the courts, not this Act.

From REBBA to TRESA

The law was originally called REBBA 2002 (the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002). A 2020 amending act (2020, c. 1) renamed it TRESA and rewrote large parts of it. The section-by-section history on e-Laws shows that some provisions (such as the commission rules) took effect on October 1, 2020, and the rest of the major changes, including complaints and discipline, on December 1, 2023.

RECO states that it enforces REBBA for conduct up to November 30, 2023, and TRESA for conduct from December 1, 2023 onward. When agents talk about "TRESA Phase 2", they mean the December 1, 2023 changes.

How the law is organized

There is one Act and several regulations under it. Most of the rules that matter to consumers are in the regulations.

This list of regulations comes from RECO’s "TRESA explained" page and Bulletin 1.2. This site has read the Act, the General regulation and the Code of Ethics directly.

What changed for consumers on December 1, 2023

• The RECO Information Guide: before providing services or assistance, an agent must give you the guide and explain it (General regulation, section 13).
• Client or self-represented party: a person is now either a "client" of a brokerage or a "self-represented party". The old "customer" relationship is gone. An agent may not give services, opinions or advice to a self-represented party (Code of Ethics, section 10).
• Designated representation: a new option where only the agent named in the agreement represents you, rather than the whole brokerage. RECO says it was introduced on December 1, 2023.
• Offer-count disclosure: when competing offers come in, the seller’s brokerage must tell every person making an offer how many offers there are. If the seller directs in writing, some or all of the content of the offers can be shared too (General regulation, section 22.7), but never anything that identifies the person making an offer.
• Stronger complaints and discipline: the registrar can receive and mediate complaints, and the discipline committee can order fines (up to $50,000 for an agent and $100,000 for a brokerage), suspension or revocation (Act, sections 19 and 21).
• A new Code of Ethics: O. Reg. 365/22 replaced the old code.

Key duties in the Code of Ethics

• Honesty: an agent must act with courtesy, honesty, good faith and integrity toward everyone they deal with (section 1).
• Accurate representations: they must make best efforts to ensure that ads and statements are accurate and not misleading (section 5).
• No discrimination: they may not treat anyone in a way that would breach the Human Rights Code (section 6).
• Clients’ best interests: an agent who represents a client must promote and protect that client’s best interests (section 8).
• Confidentiality: they may not disclose a client’s confidential information to a third party without written consent (section 12).
• Other agents’ clients: if the other side has an agent, communication must go through that agent (section 14).
• Brokerage responsibility: the brokerage must make sure all of its agents comply with the Code (section 16).

Basic rules that did not change

• No one may trade in real estate without registration (Act, section 4).
• Client money must be kept in the brokerage’s separate trust account (Act, section 27).
• Commission must be a set amount, a percentage of the price, or a mix, and a fee based on the gap between the listing price and the sale price is banned (Act, section 36).
• Agents may only be paid by their own brokerage (Act, section 31).
• Ads must clearly show the registered name of the agent’s brokerage (General regulation, section 12.1).

Where to read it

The full text is free on Ontario’s e-Laws site (ontario.ca/laws) in English and French. TRESA is at ontario.ca/laws/statute/02r30. Note that "02t30" on the same site is a different law (the Travel Industry Act).

RECO publishes explanatory bulletins for agents (RECO Bulletins) and the Information Guide for consumers. The Korean explanations on this site are not official translations. If you need a legal opinion, have a lawyer check the English original.

What this law does not cover

• Builders and vendors of new homes: the HCRA regulates them under a different law, and Tarion handles warranties.
• Landlord and tenant rights: the Residential Tenancies Act covers those. TRESA applies only to agents who arrange rentals.
• Contract disputes between a buyer and a seller: those are matters for the purchase agreement, contract law and the courts.

Example