RESA Ontario Provincial President Responds to OREA Legal Opinion RE Whether Essential Business Designation Includes Home Staging

“Businesses that supply other essential businesses or essential services within Ontario, or that supply businesses or services that have been declared essential in a jurisdiction outside of Ontario, with the support, products, supplies, systems, or services, including processing, packaging, warehousing, distribution, delivery, and maintenance necessary to operate.”

While OREA’s legal counsel has advised that Service Providers (including home stagers) would fall within the “Essential Business” category, they also state that they are not affirming that this means that those Service Providers should be providing their services.

“Most importantly, because the condition and characteristics of the property, the market and the specific contracts a REALTOR® may have with both the Service Provider and their client are unique and the behavior of both the Service Provider and REALTOR® are also contributing factors, this document can only act as a ‘general guide’. An absolute answer requires consideration of all of these factors on a case-by-case basis.

Finally, the responsibility rests with the Service Providers to comply with any Emergency Orders and the law when providing their services. A REALTOR® should not instruct the Service Provider to do anything a Service Provider does not consider to be legal.”

While they submit that “A photographer’s services should be considered ‘necessary to operate’ for ‘real estate agent services’”, they further express that stagers “may” be necessary.

While we at the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) appreciate the due diligence of the OREA’s legal counsel to provide this opinion, we as home stagers are not governed by any Real Estate Association; provincially, locally, or federally. Further, this article is not asking home stagers to return to work, but simply providing some clarity should Service Providers wish to gain a better understanding of OREA’s legal interpretation of Ontario’s Essential Services.

OREA also acknowledges in their article that “it’s not business as usual. Real estate was deemed essential so you could continue to serve clients who were closing transactions or who urgently needed to sell or buy property.”

Remember, essential services are not mandated nor required to be open or working. The Ontario declaration defining essential businesses provides a legal right to operate, should you deem that it is necessary for you to do so. I want to remind all home stagers that you continue to reserve the right to refuse to work to protect your own safety, as well as the safety of your team members, your clients, your family, and your community.

The intent of classifying a service as essential is to ensure that Canadians can continue to have their basic needs met – including food and safe shelter. As well, businesses that can support the health care system during this time are also considered essential. Essential can be defined as one that is so important or crucial in resolving a tragedy, disaster, or crisis. To stay up to date with the Ontario mandates and FAQs, use this link.

As professional home stagers, we need to do our part to flatten the curve. On April 4, 2020, RESA issued this statement, asking home stagers to cease all face-to-face consultations and staging properties. This is the responsible thing to do, not only for yourself, but for your family, for those you love, and for the country as a whole.

RESA’s message and directive for home stagers remains unchanged. For the majority of cases, while an important marketing tool, home staging is not essential to ensuring that someone has a roof over their head. Nor does home staging save lives. However, understanding this legal interpretation, as provided by OREA, may assist many home stagers by answering the question as to whether or not they would be legally allowed to destage a property, should the property require destaging due to an impending closing.

If you decide that it is necessary to service a client in-person, ensure that you follow protective measures, including wearing protective equipment, so that you can protect your safety and the safety of those that you may come into contact with. You should also continue to practice safe distancing throughout the service, both with your staff as well as your clients, and practice proper hygiene.

Consult with your own legal counsel prior to providing any services to ensure that your contract and its terms protect you. Document your company’s COVID-19 protocols and policies and ensure that all are properly communicated to your staff as well as your clients – real estate agents and their homeowners. Also, consult with your insurance provider to confirm that your coverage will extend to cover you for services performed.