ViewPoint.ca ( the "Site" ) is a service of ViewPoint Realty Services Inc. ( "ViewPoint" ).
This agreement is referred to below as the “Terms”. Please read these Terms carefully because they apply to your use of the Site. Unless otherwise agreed in writing with ViewPoint Realty Services Inc., your use of the Site will always be subject to, at a minimum, the terms and conditions set out in this document.
YOUR ACCESS OR USE OF THE SITE IN ANY WAY SIGNIFIES THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS.
By accessing or using the Site you also represent that you have the legal authority to accept the Terms on behalf of yourself and any party you represent in connection with your use of the Site. If you do not agree to the Terms, you are not authorized to use the Site. If you choose to use the Site, you are agreeing to these Terms.
Your access to the Site is contingent on you agreeing to receive email messages from ViewPoint. From time-to-time you may receive email messages that contain, but are not limited to, the following types of information: listing and property information, account related information and marketing offers. If you do not wish to receive emails from ViewPoint you may not use the Site.
Due to NSAR regulations regarding email, you may not access the Site using an email address that is provided to you by your real estate brokerage. By agreeing to the Terms, you confirm that the email address you use to log in to the Site is not a brokerage provided address.
You may access and use the Site free of charge as an individual for one of the following purposes: exploring the purchase or sale of real estate to which you would have a direct interest or to assist individuals who are contemplating the purchase or sale of real estate, provided you are not receiving or generating any form of compensation or revenue either directly or indirectly such as through the sale of a product or service to these individuals.
If you use the Site in support of a commercial or professional activity you must contact ViewPoint to arrange for such use. 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 appraisers, 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 obligations.
ViewPoint reserves the right to discontinue the Site or terminate your access to the Site without notice at any time for any reason, including but not limited to a breach of these Terms.
We reserve the right to either suspend, limit or terminate your access to the Site 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.
You are prohibited from using the Site to identify and/or solicit individuals for the promotion or sale of any product or service.
Each individual accessing the Site must log in using one and only one user ID which is associated with their legal name and email address.
The information we make available on the Site is used under license from various public and private sources. The copyrights and ownership of all information is at all times retained by the organizations to which we have entered into license agreements.
ViewPoint does not and cannot make any warranties whatsoever, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or 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.
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.
The Site does not provide advice, agency or "client" service to individuals. Only ViewPoint Realty 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.
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.
You may choose to use the services of an 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:
An Industry Member who is not representing you cannot:
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.
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:
Your Industry Member will also:
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:
Under this relationship, the Industry Member cannot:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
