Canadian Anti-Spam and Real Estate Professionals or Are You In Business?

If you are a Real Estate Professional, you are advertising your business to the world. This means you WANT people to contact you. You publish your email address in the hopes that they will do just that.

You may think of yourself as an individual, but remember that business number you had to get when you got your license? Unless you are an employee of your Brokerage, being paid a salary, you are a commercial business. If you publish your email address on a website, advertisment or even your business card, you are implying consent for other RELATED commercial businesses to contact you.

 

Most of Canada’s new Anti-Spam legislation applies to individuals receiving commercial emails. If you are a commercial business, and you advertise your contact information, other related commercial businesses are allowed to contact you.

Don’t expect commercial emails to stop. There are a few rules regarding the inclusion of contact information in the email message and regarding the ability for people or businesses to unsubscribe, but businesses can still contact businesses.

Here are the relevant bits:

REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS

Unsolicited Email Messages

6. (1) It is prohibited to send or cause or permit to be sent to an electronic address a commercial electronic message unless

(a) the person to whom the message is sent has consented to receiving it, whether the consent is express or implied; and

(b) the message complies with subsection (2).

Exception

(5) This section does not apply to a commercial electronic message

(b) that is sent to a person who is engaged in a commercial activity and consists solely of an inquiry or application related to that activity; or

And here’s where it talks about implied consent:

(9) Consent is implied for the purpose of section 6 only if:

(b) the person to whom the message is sent has conspicuously published, or has caused to be conspicuously published, the electronic address to which the message is sent, the publication is not accompanied by a statement that the person does not wish to receive unsolicited commercial electronic messages at the electronic address and the message is relevant to the person’s business, role, functions or duties in a business or official capacity;

If you are in business, and there is nothing stated where your email is advertised that other commercial businesses are not allowed to contact you, related businesses can contact you.

Remember too, if you put that you do not want to be contacted for commercial purposes, you are telling anyone who wants to contact you regarding the purchase or sale of a property that they can't. Buying and selling property is a commercial purpose. 

That’s all there is to it. If you don't want to receive the emails, opt-out or unsubscribe, but don't complain to the related businesses that they are doing something wrong, because they aren't.

Here is a link to the entire legislation if you would like to read it in full http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-1.6/page-2.html#docCont)