Once Upon A Time, it was said that some real estate boards conducted their Professional Standards hearings any way they wanted and in some cases made-up their rules as they went along and had been referred to as a “Kangaroo Court”, as some Board's felt that they were above approach because they were an “Internal” organization and as such, were not subject too or governed by any outside law.

This thought process was apparently carried forward when the Real Estate Council of Ontario was established and they mistakenly operated their administrative hearings pursuant to their own rules, as an “internal organization”

UNTILL: McRAE J. of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Divisional Court in

BRUNO LUZAK v. REAL ESTATE COUNCIL OF ONTARIO , DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE, AND REAL ESTATE COUNCIL OF ONTARIO, MEMBERSHIP APPEALS COMMITTEE in paragraph 33 Court File No. 591/02 Dated: 20031009

[www.canlii.org/on/cas/onscdc/2003/2003onscdc10831.html ]

Held as follows:

"In the instant case, the Discipline Committee and the Membership Appeals Committee both had a statutory power and exercised a statutory power of decision when they acted as they did. They ("RECO") are subject to review by this court, pursuant to the Statutory Powers Procedure Act."

Also see: February 2004 Issue of REM article titled " Court rules RECO decision subject to judicial review" by Kathy Bevan.

Prior to this ruling “RECO” basically operated the way the real estate boards had done and maintained that they were a “Internal” organization and lacked the authority to summons witnesses, etc.

Currently all hearings in relation to offenses that occur in the year 2008 or later, will be subject to the Statutory Powers Procedure Act. this ("ACT") governs all administrative tribunals in Ontario and require that fair “practice and procedures” prevail under the (“ACT”)

(“RECO”) has recently posted some long overdue information on their “new practice and procedures” on their website in relation to the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (not By-law 10) and which will make interesting reading in conjunction with reading up on the Ontario Civil Practice (rules of practice and procedures in Ontario) and the Statutory Powers Procedure Act.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information .