News Bulletin - April 10, 2020

Probate Court Alert
Residential Tenancies
COVID-19 Health Directives
Online Criminal Record Checks
Scammer Alert!
Nominees for Election

Probate Court, Residential Tenancies, Health Directives, Criminal Record Checks, Scammer Alert, Election Nominees

Probate Court Alert

Licensees with potential listings or a transaction involving an estate should check to see if a Grant of Probate or Grant of Administration has been issued. Unless deemed an emergency by a judge, Probate Courts are not accepting new applications at this time. Without a grant being recorded in the land registry, the executor/administrator will not be able sign off on the documents necessary to sell the property, because they will not have proof of their authority to act.

Residential Tenancies

The Commission has received calls from residential tenants who said that they were instructed by licensees to sanitize their rental unit for showings. Residential tenancies are governed by the Residential Tenancies Act, not the Real Estate Trading Act. Licensees are reminded that they may only relay the lawful instructions of their client. This means following the terms of specified in the lease and the Residential Tenancies Act in terms of what a tenant can be asked to do.

COVID-19 Health Directives

The COVID-19 orders, directives, and guidelines we all have to follow are being continuously updated by the provincial and federal governments. View the latest information here:

Government of Nova Scotia
Government of Canada

Online Criminal Record Checks

To facilitate social distancing measures the Commission has created an account with MyBackCheck for the provision of online criminal record checks for licensing applications. First-time salespeople, first-time brokers and licensees returning from the industry after 90 days are required to provide a current criminal record check with their licence application.

Applicants can initiate and pay their own checks online through the Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission’s landing page with MyBackCheck.

It is important for applicants to apply for their criminal record check through the Commission’s landing page to obtain a reduced rate of $33 plus tax. The regular rate is $55. Criminal record checks applied for through the Commission’s landing page will automatically appear for review in the Commission’s account.

Scammer Alert!

It has been brought to the Commission’s attention of a recent rental scam on Prop2Go (prop2go.com). The scammer(s) pulled pictures from MLS®, created two rental advertisements, with the intent of defrauding consumers out of rental deposits.

The Commission is advising licensees of this issue so they can inform their sellers and new buyers of this ongoing rental scam. The Commission advises that if you, or someone you know, is targeted by a scammer to please contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Nominees for Election

This year the Commission has two nominees for election for a seat on the board of directors, Gary Mailman and Linda Smardon. The election will be held online. The election dates have not been set yet, however, it is anticipated they election will be held the last week in April. View nominee information, including their experience, bios, and two-minute campaign videos HERE.