Ontario to tackle realtors, scalper bots

OMNIBUS BILL

ALLISON JONES TORONTO • Ontario is seeking to strengthen consumer protection rules around home warranties, ticket sales, real estate practices, and travel services in an omnibus bill introduced Thursday.

Changes to ticket-selling laws include making socalled scalper bots illegal. The bots purchase a large number of tickets online for a concert, show, or other event, then resell them at a large profit.

But those bots often operate from out of the country, which would make enforcement difficult, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi admitted, so the bill also aims to undercut both profit incentive and resale abilities. “There’s no one way, or silver bullet, of dealing with bots,” he said.

The bill would ban tickets from being resold at more than 50 per cent of the face value and make it illegal to knowingly resell tickets that were purchased by bots.

“Companies like Ticketmaster and StubHub, which pretty much control about 80 per cent of the market in Ontario, they invest a fair bit of money in dealing with bots because it’s a nuisance for them as well,” Naqvi said.

The omnibus bill would also separate the provider of Ontario’s warranty program for new homes from the body regulating new home builders. It would also make the dispute resolution process easier for homeowners who discover a problem in their new home’s construction.

The bill also tackles the issue of double ending, in which a real estate agent represents both a buyer and a seller in a transaction, though specifics are being left to regulations. Ontario Real Estate Association CEO Tim Hudak said it will allow for greater transparency and consumer protection.

Real estate sellers, brokers and brokerages would also be subject to stiffer fines if they violate a code of ethics, up from $25,000 to $50,000 and $100,000 for brokerages.