Terms of Service

ViewPoint.ca ( the "Site" ) is a service of ViewPoint Realty Services Inc. ( "ViewPoint" ). ViewPoint is regulated by the Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission. If you choose to use the Site, you are agreeing to these Terms of Service. Your relationship with ViewPoint, our obligations to you and our respective rights will vary according to the category of service and relationship you choose to receive from ViewPoint and or the Site.

Categories of Service

The following are the two categories of service available to registered users on the Site:

• ViewPoint Premium (free for personal use)
• ViewPoint Professional (subscription service for professional and commercial users)

The features, capabilities, and information associated with each category of service are subject to change at any time. ViewPoint may add or remove tiers of service from time-to-time. You may cancel or change your service at any time for any reason.

Discontinuation or Termination of Service

ViewPoint reserves the right to discontinue the service or terminate your access to the site without notice at any time for any reason. If we choose to discontinue the service or terminate your access we will issue you a pro-rated refund for any amount you paid in advance.

Fair Use

We reserve the right to either suspend, limit or terminate your access to the Site or offer you an alternative plan if we determine, in our sole and absolute discretion, that your use of the Site is, or at any time was, inconsistent with normal usage patterns for the tier of service you have chosen.

Personal Use

You may access and use the Site free of charge as an indvidual for one of the following purposes: exploring the purchase or sale of real estate to which you would have a direct interest or to directly assist individuals who are contemplating the purchase or sale of real estate, provided you are not being compensated for your effort.

Professional Use

If you use the Site in support of a commercial or professional activity you must subscribe to ViewPoint Professional and pay the associated fee. More specifically, you are deemed a professional user if you access the Site in the course of a commercial or professional activity where the information from the Site informs or contributes to a work product or service which you or your company will or reasonably expect to receive compensation. Professional and commercial users include but are not limited to appraisors, lenders, general and mortgage insurers, underwriters, lawyers and paralegal professionals, property developers, consultants, advisors, analysts, engineers, planners, researchers, real estate agents and brokers, government employees and contractors (in meeting their statutory statutory obligations).

Marketing Purposes Prohibited

You are prohibited from using the Site to identify and/or solicit individuals for the promotion or sale of any product or service.

One Account Per User

Each individual accessing the site must log in using a user ID which is associated with their legal name and email address.

Ownership and Copyright of Information

The information we make available on the Site is used under license from various public and private sources. The copyrights and ownership of of all information is at all times retained by the organizations to which we have entered into license agreements.

Liability

ViewPoint does not and cannot make any warranties whatsoever, expressed or implied as to the accuracy, completeness of any property, property-related or listing information that you access on the Site.

ViewPoint is not liable to any person or entity for any direct, indirect or consequential damages whatsoever as a result of their use of the Site or reliance on any information made available on the Site. If you are using the Site as an information resource to assist in your contemplation of a real estate transaction you are strongly advised to verify the information with the source either directly or with the assistance of competent counsel.

Privacy of Personal Information

ViewPoint will never publish, sell or distribute your personal information, unless directed by you. Personal information is information you provided directly or indirectly through your use of ViewPoint.ca that would enable someone to identify you.

No Agency

The Site does not provide advice, agency or "client" service to individuals. Only ViewPoint via its licensed agents can provide advice, agency or "client" service to you. Unless you explicitly agree otherwise in writing you are not a client of ViewPoint. The definition of "client" and our obligations to clients is described below.

Your Relationship with ViewPoint

As a licensed real estate brokerage, ViewPoint is obligated to inform you about the types of relationships that a consumer may choose to have with a brokerage. At a minimum, as a registered user of the Site, you will be considered a customer of ViewPoint, however, you may choose to become a client. These terms are defined below in the section titled "Working with a Licensed Industry Member".

If you register or are registered and continue to use the Site, you acknowledge that you have been provided with access to the information below which describes the types of relationships you may choose to have with a brokerage.

Working with an Industry Member

A Customer Relationship

You may choose to use the services of a Industry Member without any kind of agency relationship. This might occur, for example, when the seller's representative is showing you a property. In this relationship, the Industry Member has a legal and ethical duty to provide you with accurate and honest answers to questions and can provide you with all of the following services:

• explain real estate terms and practices
• provide and explain forms used
• identify and estimate costs involved in a transaction
• prepare offers or counter offers at your direction
• present all offers promptly

An Industry Member who is not representing you cannot:

• recommend or suggest a price other than that given by the seller
• negotiate on your behalf
• inform you of the client's top/bottom line
• disclose any confidential information about the client unless specifically authorized to do so

You should not provide an Industry Member who is not your representative with any information that you would not provide directly to the other party.

A Client Relationship

Real Estate Industry Members work within a legal relationship called agency. The agency relationship exists between you, the client/principal, and the brokerage with whom the Industry Member representing you is licensed. The essence of the agency relationship is that the brokerage has the authority to represent you in dealings with others. Brokerages are legally obligated to protect and promote your interests as if they were their own. Your Industry Member has the following duties:

• to protect and promote your negotiating position at all times, and disclose all known facts to you which may affect or influence your decision (undivided loyalty)
• to obey all your lawful instructions
• to keep your confidences
• to exercise reasonable care and skill in performing all assigned duties
• to account for all money and property placed in their possession while acting on your behalf

Your Industry Member will also:

• explain real estate terms and practices
• provide and explain forms used
• identify and estimate costs involved in a transaction
• negotiate on your behalf
• prepare offers or counter offers at your direction
• present all offers promptly

Transaction Brokerage/Facilitation

Transaction Brokerage/Facilitation occurs when a real estate brokerage or designated agent is representing both the buyer and the seller as clients in the same transaction. Because the brokerage or designated agent has promised a duty of confidentiality, loyalty and full disclosure to both clients simultaneously, it is necessary, if both clients consent, to limit these duties in this situation.

The Industry Member will, for both the buyer and seller:

• explain real estate terms and practices
• provide and explain forms used
• identify and estimate costs involved in a transaction
• prepare offers or counter offers at your direction
• present all offers promptly

Under this relationship, the Industry Member cannot:

• recommend or suggest a price other than that given by the seller
• recommend to the buyer what they should offer
• negotiate on either parties behalf
• inform either party of the other's top/bottom line
• disclose any confidential information about the other party unless specifically authorized to do so

Two Agency Models

There are two different agency models practiced by brokerages in Nova Scotia: Common Law Agency and Designated Agency. The Industry Member reviewing this brochure with you will indicate which model their brokerage uses.

Common Law Agency

Under this model, all Industry Members working for the brokerage have an agency relationship with the seller, which means that they all legally represent the seller under the common law. If you, as a buyer, have entered into a relationship with an Industry Member working with this brokerage as a client, and are interested in negotiating on a property offered for sale by this brokerage, you would normally enter into a transaction brokerage relationship, as described in this brochure. If you have not had a previous relationship with an Industry Member of this brokerage, you would be provided services as a customer as described in this brochure.

Designated Agency

This model allows for a seller to be represented by a specific Industry Member, rather than the whole brokerage. This means that all Industry Members at the brokerage do not represent every seller listed with the brokerage. This model also allows a buyer to be represented by their own Industry Member in any negotiations that they may do, regardless of whether the property they are interested in is listed with that brokerage or another one. This is called designated agency because the brokerage designates that the Industry Members represent specific buyers or sellers. Should the same Industry Member happen to represent both a buyer and seller that end up wanting to negotiate, then that Industry Member would normally act as a transaction facilitator for the purposes of the real estate transaction.

In both situations described above where transaction brokerage is offered, and either the buyer or seller insist on full representation, they would have to get representation from another brokerage in the case of the Common Law model or from another Designated Agent at their brokerage in the case of the Designated Agency model. They also have the option of having their lawyer represent them.

Definitions

The Brokerage (Agent)

is the real estate company under which the individual Salesperson or Associate Broker is licensed.

The client/principal

is someone who has engaged a Brokerage in an agency relationship to act for, and on their behalf, either to buy or sell real estate.

The customer

is a person who has not engaged a Brokerage to act for, and on their behalf, either to buy or sell real estate.

Industry Member

refers a person who is licensed under the Real Estate Trading Act to trade in real estate.

The Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission's mandate is to ensure consumer confidence by establishing standards for applicants and Industry Members in the real estate industry, which will promote higher standards of professionalism, competence, and integrity.

Privacy

Industry Members recognize and respect the privacy expectations of today's consumers and the requirements of applicable federal law. Industry Members believe that making you aware of how your personal information will be used and to whom it is disclosed will form the basis of a relationship of trust between you and your Industry Members. Your informed consent is required for the collection, use and retention of personal information.

Acknowledgement

I acknowledge having received and read the brochure Working with an Industry Member and have obtained satisfactory answers to any questions that it raised. I understand the various types of relationships that may occur between an Industry Member and me.