Forms 2020: Revised Standard Forms

By Ellen Baragon, Guest Contributor

As part of BCREA’s Fall 2020 Standard Forms Release, ten revised standard forms will be released on September 16, 2020

• Find out more about BCREA’s Fall 2020 Standard Forms Release at bcrea.bc.ca/forms2020.

The following is a summary of the revised standard forms with brief descriptions outlining why they were created and their intended use.

Authority to Lease – Commercial
The Authority to Lease – Commercial form has been revised to include the term “Commercial” in its title and has also be updated to:

• indicate its purpose to be used in commercial transactions; and
• to provide consistency with other contracts regarding Section 5 which deals with the listing brokerage's remuneration.

When completing these forms, Realtors should remember to use the latest version, the form appropriate to the transaction, and to complete all relevant details in Section 5 – Remuneration to ensure their brokerage’s commission is properly recorded.

Contract of Purchase and Sale
All Contract of Purchase and Sale standard forms have been updated to reflect that the tender provisions have been updated in each version of the CPS to allow tender/payment by wire transfer to reflect that more deposits are happening by way of wire transfer.

In the CPS – Residential, Section 11A(2) has been revised to reflect that the Speculation and Vacancy Tax (SVT) does not apply in all jurisdictions and therefor the seller is only required to provide an SVT declaration upon request by the buyer’s conveyancer. The change to Section 11A(2) will help eliminate uncertainty at closing if the property is not a jurisdiction that the SVT applies.

Contract of Purchase and Sale – Leasehold Interest in First Nations Land
In addition to the CPS form changes above, the legal description in the Contract of Purchase and Sale – Leasehold Interest in First Nations Reserve Lands had the following revision has been updated to reference “PID”, “PIN” and “CLSR” to reflect the various types of legal descriptions that may apply to First Nations Reserve Lands.

The titles to the attached Schedules and Exhibit have also been updated for clarity.

Co-Listing Form (Joint Representation)
The Co-Listing Form - Joint Representation has been updated to reflect how the agreement for cooperating sellers who jointly engage multiple brokerages in a co-listing operates.
The changes will allow joint representation co-listings to be documented more accurately and will more clearly set out the parties’ agreements.

In addition to setting out the main rights and obligations of the brokerages in more detail, the name of this form was changed to add “Joint Representation” to distinguish between the new Co-Listing Form (Separate Representation) created by BCREA. Learn more here.

Exclusive Authority to Lease
The Exclusive Authority to Lease – Commercial form has been revised to include the term “Commercial” in its title, and has also be updated to:

• indicate its purpose to be used in commercial transactions; and
• to provide consistency with other exclusive contracts regarding Section 5 dealing with the listing brokerage's remuneration.

Offer to Lease
The following revisions have been made to the Offer to Lease form:

• Under Section 17 “Schedules,” checkboxes were added to reflect whether or not additional terms are included.

• A new Section 39 “Additional Terms” has been added to the contract to allow for additional terms to be included. In the additional terms section, checkboxes and schedule were added in response to requests for a simple way to include terms and conditions that did not appear in the form and did not otherwise fit within one of the existing schedules.

Property Disclosure Statement
There have been new questions added to various Property Disclosure Statements (PDS), in order to expand sellers’ disclosure in respect to certain matters.

The additional questions included are:

Question on Bats
All versions of the PDS were updated to include bats on the infestation question. It is a common misconception that bats are rodents, however they are not categorized as rodents and may cause significant damage and issues that cannot be easily remedied – especially in light of their protected status.

Property Disclosure Statement - Water Sustainability Act
All versions of the PDS were revised based on a request from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development to increase awareness among real estate brokers, agents, buyers and sellers of water licensing requirements based on the 2016 Water Licensing Act for water sustainability, particularly the changes for groundwater licensing and the March 1, 2022 deadline. The added questions intend to address the governmental changes around groundwater licensing. BCREA has created a specific FAQ resource (REALTOR Link® log-in required) to address the questions on the PDS on the Water Sustainability Act.

Property Disclosure Statement Strata - Insurance
Given the ongoing concerns regarding strata insurance, the Summary of Insurance Coverages was added to the list of strata documents that may be requested in the PDS.

Realtors should review the new questions and become familiar with them so that they can help guide their clients through the process of completing the forms.

Privacy Notice and Consent
The following text has been added to the Privacy Notice and Consent Form to help Realtors better comply with BC’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA):

"Your personal information may be transferred to or stored in a foreign country, in which case the governments, courts, law enforcement, or regulatory agencies of that country may be able to obtain access to your personal information through the laws of that foreign country."

This text was added to help comply with PIPA and PIPEDA and so that the wording contained in the Privacy Notice and Consent form is consistent with the wording contained in all other agreements that contain privacy disclosures. The form is now more inclusive by providing notice that a client’s personal information may be transferred to or stored in a foreign country.

Fall 2020 Standard Forms Release Pre-Launch Package

Click here to view the Fall 2020 Standard Forms Release Pre-Launch Package, which includes advanced copies of the revised forms (watermarked and not for use) along with resource guides. REALTOR Link® username and password are required.

View Pre-Launch Package

In addition to the revised standard forms, BCREA will also be releasing:

• Seven new standard forms and three new clauses. Learn more here.
• Updated signature blocks on more than 20 forms. Learn more here.

If you have any questions about the Fall 2020 Standard Forms Release ask your managing broker or email [email protected]

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