Written by Joanne Schilling
Associate Broker, Royal LePage Prince George
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Sunday, 06 July 2008 |
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the world and our civil liberties have never been the same, and now Realtors and their clients are being targeted by the fallout, unbeknownst to the general public.
After the attacks on New York -- live on television for all to see, and etched onto our international cerebral cortexes for posterity -- and after years of national and international deliberation, a new bureaucracy has been born: the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). Its mandate is to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing by tracking the flow of money; by snooping on what FINTRAC refers to as "high-risk industries," including real estate.
As of June 23, 2008, when you buy or sell a home you'll have to reveal your personal information once upheld under privacy legislation as being sacred. You'll be asked for ID to prove who you say you are, such as your birth certificate, driver's licenCe, and SIN number.
Realtors are required to document the information, and companies and corporate clients are not exempt from scrutiny. If clients are of a questionable nature, then we must file a Suspicious Transaction Report with FINTRAC within 30 days. As well, we are also required to record all deposits and detailed banking information, and cash deposits of $10,000 or more must be reported to FINTRAC within 15 days of receipt. To ignore these requirements can result in fines of up to $2 million and five years in prison.
An interesting aspect of all this is that certain real estate entities and professions are exempt from FINTRAC reporting. Developers, who profit from a major share of the real estate pie and who command million-dollar projects, are still allowed to carry on as usual. So can lawyers and notaries, who not only act as conveyancers of real estate, but also act on behalf of national and international interests, orchestrating the back-and-forth flow of mega dollars. Also exempt are the 'for sale by owners'. Why would terrorists deal with Realtors when they can take advantage of unsuspecting private sellers?
Yes, fighting crime is a good thing, and we pay taxes to ensure that our politicians and various police departments are continually vigilant. However, to enlist citizens to counter crime, with threats of hefty fines and imprisonment for non-compliance, smells of nothing more than outright fascism.
-- Joanne Schilling
Associate Broker, Royal LePage Prince George
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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