Humber/Ontario Real Estate Course 1 Exam Practice

If the Registrar receives a complaint that a salesperson failed to give the buyer's deposit to the brokerage, what action is most likely to be taken?

1. Advise the registrant to take an education course on handling deposits.

2. Require that the registrant sign an acknowledgment and undertaking that he or she will not do this again.

3. Immediately suspend the registrant's registration and take further action as necessary to resolve the matter.

4. Require that the registrant attend a meeting in the next few weeks to explain why the funds were not deposited.

5. Forward the complaint to the broker of record for internal review.

6. Issue a warning and keep the incident on record.

The correct answer is: Immediately suspend the registrant's registration and take further action as necessary to resolve the matter.

The most likely action if a salesperson fails to give the buyer's deposit to the brokerage involves a serious breach of trust and professional standards. Immediately suspending the registrant's registration indicates the gravity of the violation and helps prevent further potential misconduct while the matter is under investigation. Ensuring that clients' funds are properly handled is critical in the real estate profession, and failure to do so can lead to significant legal implications and loss of public confidence in the industry. By taking swift action, the Registrar aims to protect buyers and maintain the integrity of the profession. In this context, options like advising education courses or requiring acknowledgment and undertaking would not be sufficient given the serious nature of the violation. Meetings for explanation or internal reviews may delay addressing the immediate risk to consumers. Warnings, while they acknowledge the incident, do not provide the necessary immediate corrective measures to safeguard transactions and public trust in real estate practices.