The Ontario Real Estate Association’s annual leadership conference took place in Toronto this week, and one of the key items of business discussed at its Annual General Meeting on March 11 pertained to a proposed OREA advertising campaign.
The campaign, which aims to promote REALTOR® professionalism through television advertisements, was not included in the OREA budget, and as a result, a $30 fee increase to be levied on all Members for the next three years was proposed.
While I believe strongly in communicating with consumers about the value of home ownership and working with a REALTOR®, I also believe that such initiatives should be achieved within existing budgets. As such, I cast a vote against the proposed increase, and I believe most other TREB Directors did so as well.
The vote on this issue, which was administered by secret ballot, was carried, with 73 votes cast in favour of allowing the increase and 50 against. It is worth noting that while TREB comprises approximately 70 per cent of OREA’s membership, our Association holds 33 per cent of the vote.
I believe it is important to inform Members of this outcome directly, as many of you took the time to express opposition to the proposed increase. As the majority of TREB Directors also do not agree with this increase, we will be discussing options at upcoming meetings.
While TREB is responsible for collecting OREA and CREA dues, in addition to those for our Association, it is important to note that the $30 increase relates solely to your OREA dues. It will become effective in January 2016.
Throughout the past 11 years, TREB has offered dues holidays on seven different occasions. We are committed to providing you with quality tools and services, while undertaking the most efficient approaches to doing so, and as always, I am grateful for your feedback on all of our offerings.
Please feel free to share your thoughts with me anytime by writing to trebpres@trebnet.com.