Introduce a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights

We will create a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights so that the process of buying a home is fair, open, and transparent. This will include:

  • Banning blind bidding, which prevents bidders from knowing the bids of other prospective buyers, and ultimately drives up home prices;
  • Establishing a legal right to a home inspection to make sure that buyers have the peace of mind that their investment is sound;
  • Ensuring total transparency on the history of recent house sale prices on title searches;
  • Requiring real-estate agents to disclose to all participants in a transaction when they are involved in both sides of a potential sale;
  • Moving forward with a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry;
  • Ensuring banks and lenders offer mortgage deferrals for up to 6 months in the event of job loss or other major life event; and
  • Requiring mortgage lenders act in your best interest so that you are fully informed of the full range of choices at your disposal, including the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive.

As part of establishing a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights, a re-elected Liberal government will convene federal and provincial regulators to develop a national action plan to increase consumer protection and transparency in real estate transactions.

To help better protect renters, we will also stop “renovictions” by deterring unfair rent increases that fall outside of a normal change in rent. We will require landlords to disclose on their tax filing the rent they receive pre- and post-renovation, and implement a proportional surtax if the increase in rent is excessive.