London/St. Thomas and Brantford Realtor associations call for special meetings in order to address member concerns

The London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors and the Brantford Region Real Estate Association will be holding special general meetings in the near future to discuss the way decisions are made in these organizations.

The LSTAR Meeting is scheduled for today May 13, and the BRREA Meeting is on June 5. 

“A Special Meeting of London and St. Thomas Association of Realtors (LSTAR) members has been called. LSTAR respects that this is a members’ only meeting, so details are reserved for the members of our association. We look forward to what we anticipate to be a well-attended, interactive meeting with our members,”Kathy Amess says in a press release that she is the chair of 2024 LSTAR.

Motions for LSTAR Meetings to be Considered

In a document obtained from REM, the Notice of Meeting cites a number of motions that will be considered.

• All changes in MLS or LSTAR systems, MLS or LSTAR service providers, or MLS systems must be communicated by email to the membership or brokerages with a news alert highlighting the benefits and drawbacks at least 30 calendar days prior to any contracts being signed or changes implemented.
• LSTAR revokes the notice of termination by the Information Technology Systems of Ontario(ITSO), (and) immediately take all the required actions to extend the ITSO service to December 31, 2020
• The board appointed a taskforce to review the MLS systems currently available in Ontario. They also made the decision that they would move to the PropTx MLS System
• The board must have an independent third party qualified to review its governance in full.
• The board should be immediately removed, and an election for directors held immediately. Nominations from the floor of this meeting can be used to elect directors.
• Bill Madder, CEO at LSTAR, is asked to resign.

LSTAR announced its participation in the PropTx service last fall along with other boards of real estate, including the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

‘Ontario-wide MLS listing system is the way to go, but not by one board saying ‘our way or no way’’

Jim McCarvell has been a LSTAR Member since 1982. He is an associate broker for Re/Max Centre City Realty Inc. based in London. He says that two main issues have caused concern amongst fellow realtors.

“This is the second time, probably within 12 months, that the administration of LSTAR is trying to jam something down the throats of the members without any input and without any regard,”He explains. “The first one was an insurance program (the Ontario Realtor Wellness Program). Our board just says it’s going to cost you $500 a year and too bad, so sad. There was a big chunk of people that said, ‘My wife works as well and she’s got a good plan so we’re going to stay with that.’ They basically told you, ‘Who cares? It’s going to cost you if you like it or not.’”

The second issue McCarvell points out is about amalgamating with the Toronto system: “They had four people out of 1,500 test the system on a very time-limited basis and they got back all kinds of feedback. They had already held one meeting, and it was forced upon them.

The microphones were positioned. People were applauding for the resistance. Booing. They brought in an attorney. They brought an official MC in and all that sort of stuff. They knew it was backfiring on them — that there were just too many people ready to stand up and say ‘enough is enough.’”

McCarvell says a MLS listing system that covers all of Ontario is the way to move, but “not by one board jamming it down everybody’s throat saying, ‘It’s our way or no way.’”

BRREA meeting to replace the board of directors

Ryan Campbell, real estate broker with The Crew Real Estate at Real Broker Ontario Ltd., in Paris, Ontario, says the BRREA meeting was called to remove the current board of directors and install a new board due to the current board’s handling of its MLS provider agreement. To remove the board, two-thirds of the members present plus proxy votes are required. 

“BRREA’s current contract with ITSO is expiring in August and rather than sign another contract, the current board decided that we should use PropTx, the current provider for TRREB. This would leave us without a data-sharing agreement with the boards that surround Brantford where our agents do a good deal of business as well, (like) Waterloo, Hamilton, Burlington and Simcoe,”He says.

Campbell explains the surrounding boards decided that they would merge into the Cornerstone Association of Realtors (CAR). “I hosted the presidents of these boards at my office for an information session for interested agents last month. They informed us that they have a data-sharing agreement with the ITSO boards but not with PropTx at this point.”

He says that the primary concern for the agents who called for the SGM was data and the need for dual memberships to access the boards around them. “We are a one-member, one-vote board and the question was asked if the board needs the membership’s vote to change MLS providers. The answers given were unclear about whether this was required.”This is why a group of members called for the SGM to discuss the issue with the membership.

“Since this issue has arisen, three members of the board have resigned and new members were appointed by current board members. A commitment was made to take another look at the PropTx agreement (it’s a 10-year commitment and some members were uneasy about the length) and a task force was to be formed regarding amalgamating with CAR.”

Response from BRREA

David DeDominicis is the president of BRREA. In an emailed announcement, he says that special meetings are an option for members who would like a particular item to be debated or a certain action taken.

“In this instance, a minority of members have raised concerns with ongoing discussions between the board of BRREA and the board of PropTx. It is factual and well-known that the board is engaged in contract negotiations to transition to this platform; however, at this time, no contract has been signed with PropTx and BRREA continues to be in the process of negotiating the best deal for our members,”He says.

The statement goes on to say: “BRREA recognizes the MLS landscape in Ontario is changing and it is the board’s responsibility to ensure our members are best served by the platforms and services we use. PropTx was chosen as the best platform for our members after a thorough review of all the MLS platforms in our region.

The BRREA board members are guided in their evaluations by their experience as local realtors and the conversations they have with our members. The board’s highest priority is always finding the best value for our members and ensuring every decision made has the best interest in mind for the membership.”