Many Ontario brokerages are pocketing interest on trust account funds

A loophole in the laws regulating real estate in Ontario is allowing millions of dollars in interest payments owed to homebuyers to instead be pocketed by brokerage businesses.

At issue are just a few lines of fine print known as the “Schedule B disclosures” in a typical real estate agreement of purchase and sale contract. By provincial law, brokerages are required to tell buyers if the trust account that will hold their deposit, which can range from 2 to 5 per cent of a home’s purchase price, is an account that collects interest, and if so, at what rate.