Mediaboss Marketing

Date: Wednesday Mar. 14, 2012 10:54 AM ET

Toronto's real estate agency is launching a full-court attack against a plan to make more information available online, including the names and addresses of home sellers.

The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) claims will invade the privacy of home sellers and buyers and may result in more fraud against its clients.

The country's largest real estate board says Canada's Competition Bureau is planning to release sensitive information about online real estate sales by removing safeguards used by its agents.

The Competition Bureau is demanding TREB release more information about its listings online, in a bid to even the competitive balance for online real estate websites.

In 2010, federal Competition Commissioner Melanie Aitken successfully fought to give private home sellers access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is the primary service through which homes are bought and sold in Canada.

The real estate industry has grown its online presence in recent years. The industry's main site, Realtor.ca, allows clients to browse homes over the Internet. Some information is restricted on the site and a real estate agent must grant access.

The Competition Bureau now argues that TREB's information wall is unfair for independent online real estate sale sites and should be made publicly available. The case is expected to go before a competition tribunal in the fall.

If the change is implemented, the name and address of real estate sellers will be made available online, as will property floor plans and other information about homes for sale.

Negotiated sale prices and details of buyer mortgages would also be made publicly available, TREB said on Wednesday.

Link:
Online real estate listings invade privacy: TREB