You may be surprised to learn that kickbacks in the Alberta condo management industry are completely legal as long as licensees follow the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) Rules regarding referral fees.
Key Condo has a zero-tolerance policy regarding kickbacks. We believe that board members and unit owners rightfully expect transparency and fairness in the selection of vendors and the allocation of resources. Kickbacks undermine these expectations.
We believe that when vendors secure contracts based on backdoor deals rather than merit and quality of service, it results in lower standards and diminishes the overall quality of service provided to unit owners.
RECA is actively consulting industry stakeholders regarding proposed changes to licensee business activities. If your condo corporation is impacted by kickbacks you may want to provide your feedback: consultation@reca.ca
Thanks for writing this Dana! I think that it's important that managers be arm's length from all contractors too. It undermines the competition that managers are supposed to promote for the clients.
The December 2022 RECA Bulletin "Conflict of Interest Disclosure - Condo Managers" makes a great statement that I am not sure our competitors are all compliant with:
"Any situations where a condominium manager may receive benefits— financial or otherwise—from a third-party providing services to a condominium corporation, must be disclosed in writing to the condominium corporation. If the board does not approve of the benefits being received by the condominium manager, then the condominium manager must cease receiving the benefits."
While I don't see anything as robust in…