BROKER RISK MANAGEMENT
WEEKLY PRACTICE TIP
CAR New RPOD – Rental Property Owner Disclosure form – December 2022
(Note: All Other New and Revised Forms are in a Separate Tip)
While Broker Risk Management supports and encourages the use of CAR’s many useful and well-written forms, the RPOD form has caused us concern, as specifically discussed below. As a result, Broker Risk Management recommends against using this form until these issues are addressed by CAR. Instead, we suggest using the attached BRM “Landlord Residential Questionnaire and Statutory Disclosure” form.
The new CAR “Rental Property Owner Disclosure” form (form RPOD) states that its purpose is:
To provide a broker with information about known material facts affecting the Premises, to help eliminate misunderstandings about the condition of the Premises and, where relevant, to document an RPO’s response to contractual requirements”, and “..authorizes the disclosures made in this form to be used to supplement the terms of a residential lease or rental with a tenant (lessee) and, if applicable, a lease listing or property management with a broker.
In other words, the RPOD is not intended to be given to a tenant, and so there is no tenant signature line.
If a lease listing agent chooses to use the RPOD with the CAR Lease Listing Agreement, that agent would have to address all of the following items:
- Provide the RPOD to the RPO at the signing of the Lease Listing Agreement. Advise the RPO to complete this form and provide the lease listing agent copies of all documents in the RPO’s possession, which the RPO must provide to a tenant.
- Pay special attention to the RPOD questions which require the RPO to provide documents. These occur throughout the RPOD, so lease listing agents must be careful to receive and deliver to the tenant ALL the documents, which you receive from the RPO.
- Ensure you have a fully completed Lease Rental Agreement (RLMM) with the information as provided by the RPO. Deliver to the tenant all documents from the RPO prior to asking the tenant to sign the RLMM. It is essential that all relevant information and required documents are timely delivered to a tenant.
- Finally, check the RPOD answers to ensure that the RLMM agreement form, and all disclosures and documents mentioned, match what the RPO has disclosed.
Because of the risks of a lease listing agent inadvertently missing one or more of the above steps to fully disclose to the tenant all that the RPO disclosed in the RPOD, Broker Risk Management cannot recommend the use of that form.
Instead, we have prepared and updated our Landlord Residential Questionnaire and Statutory Disclosure form and recommend its use in place of the RCOD form.
PRACTICE TIPS:
- Paragraph 12B of the Lease Listing Agreement requires the RPO to complete this form. In order to make the change from requiring the RPO to complete the RCOD, we recommend:
A: In paragraph 18F “Other” add “RPO Disclosures Addendum;” and
- Add the “RPO Disclosures Addendum” to the Lease Listing Agreement, which is attached to this Tip.
- Review the “Landlord Questionnaire and Statutory Disclosure” received from the RPO for completeness. Ensure that all documents and forms required to be delivered to the tenant have been attached.
- Deliver to the tenant the above questionnaire and disclosures and all related documents prior to signing the lease/rental agreement.
This Weekly Practice Tip is an attorney-client privileged document for the exclusive use of clients of Broker Risk Management and their agents. It may not be reproduced or distributed without the express written consent of Broker Risk Management. The advice and recommendations contained herein are not necessarily indicative of standards of care in the industry, but rather to suggest good risk management practices.
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