Wholesaling - is it legal in Ontario? My lawyer says NO!
Hi all,
I'm a new member and just trying to get my feet off ground starting a wholesaling business. I have read about many man people successfully wholesaling in and around Ontario, so I didn't expect to run in to any road blocks so early on.
Before getting in to things, I figured a good place to start would be to consult a real estate attorney, outline my plans, and make sure I am doing things by the book. I met with one this past week, and he pretty much shut down my business idea immediately, quoting sections from the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act of 2002 which provides a *very* broad definition for the word 'trading', and goes on to say that nobody may trade real estate in the province of Ontario who is not registered as a broker or salesperson working for a brokerage, or who is otherwiese 'registered' as defined in the Act.
Here's a link, see section 4 subsection 1:
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02r30_e.htm#BK6
Now I will fully admit that the attorney I met with didn't seem to have much experience dealing with real estate investors - perhaps I should have screened him more carefully. He admitted as well that he was used to dealing with more traditional closing transactions. But, the question remains - was he right about this? How are individual , non-registered peple able to conduct wholesaling activities in Ontario? Are they ignorant of this law or is there something else going on? I'm very confused now. Any input from active wholesalers would be much appreciated. Luckily I was planning on working in two markets - Ontario and somewhere in the U.S., so this may not set me back completely. But I was hoping to be able to work in my home town as well!
Marc