Is Your Facebook Profile RECO and REBBA 2002 Compliant?

8/10/2019 Is Your Facebook Profile RECO and REBBA 2002 Compliant?

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Is Your Facebook Page RECO

and REBBA 2002 Compliant?



ContentsForeword ......................................................................................................................................... 2

What is Facebook? .......................................................................................................................... 3

Facebook’s Mission Statement .................................................................................................... 3

Facebook for Real Estate Brokers ............................................................................................... 3

Best Practices .............................................................................................................................. 4

Getting Started With Facebook ...................................................................................................... 4

Facebook Profiles ........................................................................................................................ 5

Creating a Compliant Facebook Profile .......................................................................................... 5

Facebook Pages ........................................................................................................................... 9

Facebook Groups........................................................................................................................10

Tips About Facebook .....................................................................................................................10

Important clarifications when using descriptive phrasing ............................................................ 11 About Realty Point Inc ................................................................................................................... 11

Web Links ...................................................................................................................................... 11

DISCLAIMER ................................................................................................................................ 12

ForewordCreating a REBBA 2002 compliant social media profile is a requirement of all registered real

estate brokers in Ontario when you use any social media account for any type of real estaterelated activities and there isn’t much of a grey area according to the compliance requirementsthat have been set out.

There are Advertising Guidelines (available at the RECO website) that describe the particulars asset out by RECO that will assist you in advertising compliance issues that include online

activities.

This guide has been written to provide advice current at the time of publication. Regulationsmay be amended or re-written and Facebook settings may change so we encourage you to seek

up-to-date information using the links at the end of this publication.

Social media as a whole offers a channel unique to the times we live in for connecting with

people and events, for discovery and conversation.

Uniquely, Facebook is, with more than 1.2 billion members worldwide, the largest collection of

people ever brought together. Being a part of something so large and so ingrained into our dailylives offers opportunities never before available and dangers never before encountered.





If you post any real estate information (at all, ever, as opposed to never postingsuch information and using Facebook for purely personal activities), as a real

estate professional registered with RECO you are required to have certaininformation available within your profile as regulated by RECO and REBBA 2002.

Best Practices

We encourage you to use Facebook in a responsible manner. Social media can be a great way toconnect but it is also “forever” so as you like, friend, follow, message, post and share do so withcare.

• Only share content that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen as coming from you by

your family, friends and co-workers and basically every other person on the planet – if indoubt, don’t post or share it (the internet is forever, even when Facebook says you can

edit/delete a post/comment). Reputation management is of the utmost importance!

• Use your personal page to connect with friends, family and acquaintances and create a

specific business page and invite people to “like” that page to promote your real estate

business – always in this order!• Facebook, just like most social media channels, should be treated as a get-together, a

place to start a conversation. Don’t always be selling, you’ll make more friends andeveryone involved will have a better experience if you keep your business to a minimum

(a good rule of thumb is 80% fun, 20% business for your posts)

• Understand Facebook’s privacy policy and how you can control access to all parts of your

personal information from what you share publicly to what you share with select peopleand even keep to yourself

• It’s important to be aware of the various ways your profile is displayed as you set up your

account or change your privacy settings. It’s worthwhile to occasionally visit your profilepage and click the various links when you are not logged into Facebook so you can see

what is publicly available about yourself on your page

Getting Started With FacebookIt’s likely that you already have a Facebook account, after all more than 80% of Ontarians do.

We use Facebook to keep on top of what is happening in our family and friend’s lives and to

share our own happenings, big or small.

We share and store our vacation photos, funny videos, recipes, links to websites and a lot more.Facebook provides a great place to discover more of the world around us as we share on our own

timeline and our friend’s pages.

If you don’t yet have a Facebook account then now is the time to join and get started. You’ll needa few things at the ready, a few pictures, some friend’s email accounts so you can find them (orsearch by their names) and connect with them.

I’m not going to go into detail about setting up your account, after all, discovery is half the fun

and things change so it’s quite possible what I would describe isn’t in effect as you read this.



I will offer this advice however: take the Facebook tour to see how all the parts of your page interact and contain your personal information. Read each section

about how to manage your privacy and determine who sees what on your page and what you post and share.

Facebook Profiles

Your profile is the main page linking to all the sections about yourself and your activities whichincludes your timeline, personal information, photos, friends list and a lot more.

Many Real Estate Professionals assume that as long as the “About” section of their Facebook

profile contains their business information that their profile is compliant with currentregulations. This is not true.

Creating a Compliant Facebook Profile

Your profile cover photo image (see image below) is our one area of interest acrossFacebook including your Profile, your Pages and your Groups, that must be set-upin a very specific way to be RECO and REBBA 2002 compliant as a Real EstateProfessional in Ontario.

[Note: this is a non-compliant profile]



To be compliant with RECO and REBBA 2002 your profile must include a custom cover imagethat clearly details your information as a Real Estate Broker, your brokerage (including the word

“brokerage”) and certain contact information.

The custom cover requirement is due to the fact that the standard layout and default settings of your Facebook profile page does not have the capability to display the required information as

mandated by RECO and REBBA 2002.

Using Facebook (and any social media) to promote your activities as a Real EstateBroker falls within the Advertising Guidelines and as a RECO registrant you are

required to ensure your compliance.

The image below is an example of a compliant Facebook cover photo image as provided byRECO.

[*image from http://www.reco.on.ca/UserFiles/Social%20Media%20Guide/Social%20Media%20Guide%20%20FINAL.pdf ]

The required aspects of your custom cover photo image include

• Clearly identifying the RECO registered name of your brokerage and include the word“brokerage”

• Clearly identifying yourself and your designation (Sales Representative, Broker)

• Provide current brokerage contact information including address (phone number is

optional)

http://www.reco.on.ca/UserFiles/Social%20Media%20Guide/Social%20Media%20Guide%20%20FINAL.pdf






• Essentially, the contact information that is on your business card is what is needed to be

on your Facebook page’s custom cover image photo

As there is not enough space within the text fields that display on top of your profile image thatFacebook provides, you must create a custom cover photo image to show this information.

You also need to be aware of how your profile image and text that will display on top of yourcustom cover photo image may hide the information that needs to be displayed. We’ve provided

the following examples and sizing to save you time in creating an effective custom cover photoimage

The recommended custom cover photo image size is a minimum 720 pixels wide and should be

300 pixels high (optimal size is 820x310 pixels). The image can be repositioned after you uploadit if it is not a perfect fit, but not cropped or resized.

Below is a screenshot of a custom cover photo image so you can see which areas of the photo will

be hidden when others visit your profile page.

[Image copyright 2014 Robert Lee]

Starting with the picture area in the bottom left corner you need to leave room for your profilepicture and your name, about an area of 500 pixels wide by 140 pixels high.

From the bottom right corner there are some buttons that will also hide your image so you needto not put any of the required information in an area about 325 pixels wide by 50 pixels high

from the bottom right corner, see example below.




If you have photo editing software creating your own custom cover photo image should be quite

easy. If you’re uncomfortable with editing a photo and don’t have someone that can help you with this task you can always search online for a “Facebook cover photo creator” to get the taskcompleted.

Be aware, however, to use your own image that you hold the copyright for or only copyright androyalty free images from a reliable source or you may be liable for the use of the image in apersonal and/or commercial use capacity. Many people are sued over the use of images theythought were “free” because they found the image online but the image is copyrighted and a

royalty payment is required for its use.

Below is an example of a compliant custom cover photo image.







Facebook Groups

“Groups” are a sub-set of your personal page as well. They can be created about any topic that

abides by the Facebook Community Standards and have the additional benefit of being open tothe public (anyone can see the group, its members and their posts), or closed (anyone can find

the group and see who's in it, only members can see posts) or secret (only members can find thegroup and see posts).

Groups would be used to discuss specific issues as a professional group, a community issue, or afan of someone/something.

This group page also needs to have a custom cover image photo to be RECO and REBBA 2002

compliant.

Tips About Facebook• Your profile picture is a public image and is shown to all visitors to Facebook, on your

page, in messaging apps, alongside your posts and even other websites that you log in

using your Facebook account

• Facebook does not store your password. You should set up your account with a strong

password and enable two-factor authentication to your mobile phone should you everneed to reset your password. You should also have an alternate email address in use in

case you lose access to your primary email address• Facebook provides a “[email protected]” email address that can forward

messages to your registered email address

• You may be eligible for a “vanity url” when you set-up your account (or soon afterwards)that allows your page link on Facebook to display as

https://www.facebook.com/vanityurl instead of the defaulthttps://www.facebook.com/UID123456789



• Carefully review your privacy settings so you understand who sees what and make the

adjustments that you are most comfortable with

• Check the image when people tag you in a photo (you don’t want to be associated withimages in poor taste do you?)

• You can check your Facebook activity by going to Settings > Activity Log and see what

you’ve been doing as well as other activities involving yourself by other people

Important clarifications when using descriptive phrasingDue to the limited space available in your Facebook cover photo image it’s important to note

that using descriptive phrasing, comparative claims and indications of honours and awardsmust still abide by the Advertising Guidelines and have notations either with the details or a linkto where the details about the statements are available online.

About Realty Point IncRealty Point offers an innovative franchise brokerage platform that allows successful real estatesales professionals to open their own real estate brokerage at a significant savings over the

traditional brokerage franchise model.

Incorporating your real estate business through your Realty Point brokerage franchise allows you, the real estate professional, to become the Broker of Record of your own brokerage andutilize the Realty Point administration staff as your back-office support staff, allowing you to

continue what you do best, sell homes, while we take care of the compliance and administrative work your brokerage requires to operate daily.

“Your Name Realty Point” becomes the foundation that allows you to utilize the tax savings that

other self-employed professionals in Ontario enjoy while at the same time operate at asubstantial lower office and staff cost and still be RECO and REBBA 2002 compliant.

With over 10 years successfully running a real estate brokerage, our management team guides

you every step of the way, starting with incorporation and continuing through your dailyoperations, to help you achieve the success you desire.

Web Links

Facebook Helphttps://www.facebook.com/help/

Facebook Privacy Basicshttps://www.facebook.com/about/basics/

https://www.facebook.com/help/


https://www.facebook.com/about/basics/






Facebook “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (with links to privacy policy, data use policyand more)https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms

RECO (guidelines)

http://www.reco.on.ca/professional/registration.html

REBBA 2002 (RECO documents)http://www.reco.on.ca/tc-328/sc-335.html

REBBA 2002 (e-laws)http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02r30_e.htm

Realty Point Inchttp://www.realtypoint.ca

DISCLAIMERThe information contained herein is an adaption of the information available through RECO and

the REBBA 2002 from currently available documents (November 2014). It should in no way bedeemed complete or binding and you are advised to seek additional clarification from the abovementioned regulatory bodies to confirm your individual compliance with these recommended

guidelines.

Real estate agents in Ontario are licensed and regulated by The Real Estate Council of Ontario

(RECO) which is responsible for administering and enforcing the Real Estate and BusinessBrokers Act 2002 (REBBA 2002).

Enforcement covers all activities deemed to be a part of the activities of a real estate broker (seeRECO for clarification) including social media activity when used by real estate agents inconjunction with real estate business. This may include advertising, lead generation and

property promotion among other activities.

You may freely share this publication, in its entirety, provided no additions, deletions or otherchanges are made to the document.

© 2014 Realty Point Inc. and Robert Lee. Images used remain the property of their respectiveowners. All rights reserved. Edition V2.1

Realty Point Inc240 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 600Toronto, ON, M3B 3S61-800-410-8516

www.realtypoint.ca [email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms




http://www.reco.on.ca/tc-328/sc-335.html


http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02r30_e.htm


http://www.realtypoint.ca/




mailto:[email protected]









Documents

Is Your Facebook Profile RECO and REBBA 2002 Compliant?