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DuProprio Celebrates Two More Legal Victories against Real Estate Brokerage Industry

Montréal, July 8, 2021 – On Friday, DuProprio won its fourth legal battle against the real estate brokerage industry. In the class action lawsuit filed by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB), the Superior Court of Québec ruled that the allegations that DuProprio’s advertising is false and misleading were unfounded. This legal win for DuProprio follows on the heels of another in April, when the Superior Court ruled in DuProprio’s favour in a suit filed by the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ). These legal proceedings were filed in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

“We’ve always been very confident that we would win these two battles because we’ve used exemplary business practices from the start,” said Marco Dodier, DuProprio’s president and CEO. “DuProprio has the right to exist and to openly promote the benefits of its services.”

It is now the fourth time, in three different legal proceedings, that the court has ruled in DuProprio’s favour against the real estate brokerage industry. This comes as no surprise to the CEO. “Not only do Quebecers like our business and our team members, but our model meets a need and lets consumers exercise a legitimate right: to sell their property without an agent and without paying a commission.” The number of properties declared sold on the DuProprio platform has broken a record for the 23rd consecutive year, with more than 22,000 properties sold in 2019. DuProprio.com has also been named the most liked real estate website in Quebec.*

“At the risk of repeating myself, I sincerely hope that the real estate brokerage industry will move on and leave our business and the consumers who choose it in peace,” Marco Dodier added.

Real estate brokers at war with DuProprio

It is important to remember that these two lawsuits were not filed by consumers, but by the QPAREB, an organization whose mission is to protect and promote the interests of real estate brokers, and by the OACIQ, whose mission is to protect the public from the risks associated with real estate brokers’ role as an intermediary, not to protect the brokerage model itself.

“These suits are part of a larger business war the real estate brokerage industry has been waging against DuProprio on the advertising, legal and public relations fronts for several years. The goal is to keep DurProprio from growing, to deny consumers a highly appreciated alternative to selling with an agent and, at the same time, protect the real estate brokerage monopoly in Quebec,” stated Marco Dodier.

The allegations

The QPAREB was essentially alleging that DuProprio was making false and misleading claims in, among other things, showing the money its clients have saved based on an average 5% commission rate. The Superior Court ruled that not only are DuProprio’s claims not false or misleading, the 5% rate is neither inflated nor exaggerated.

As for the OACIQ, it was petitioning the Court to declare that DuProprio is carrying out activities that are subject to the Real Estate Brokerage Act (REBA). In doing so, the OACIQ was hoping to prevent businesses like DuProprio from operating, which would deprive consumers of reliable alternatives to using a real estate agent. The Superior Court completely rejected these assertions, confirming that DuProprio does not perform brokerage activities and is in no way a go-between in real estate transactions.

About DuProprio

With the help of its dedicated team, DuProprio’s mission is to offer homeowners in Quebec the guidance and visibility they need to sell their property commission-free. Since its creation in 1997, nearly 300,000 consumers have declared that they sold their property using the DuProprio network’s services. Its website is the most liked in Quebec* and lists over 20,000 properties for sale. DuProprio employs more than 500 people.

For more information:
communications@duproprio.com

*According to a web survey of 1,246 respondents conducted by Ad Hoc Research between February 12 and 25, 2019.