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The B.C. Real Estate Association is pushing back against a proposed ban on the controversial practice of allowing realtors to represent both sellers and buyers of a property.

The proposed ban on dual agency — also known as double-ending — is the most significant change among a number of rules proposed Wednesday by the B.C. government’s Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate. The draft rule changes, meant to protect consumers and improve transparency in B.C.’s red-hot real estate market, have been provided to realtors and the public for comment over the next month.

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Dual agency has been restricted or banned in some U.S. states, and Ontario has also proposed a ban on it.

In an interview on Thursday, the B.C. Real Estate Association’s CEO, Robert Laing, said realtors worry that banning dual agency will hurt both consumers and realtors.

“Our biggest concern is the consumer’s right to make a choice about who they work with is being taken away from them,” Laing said. “The superintendent is trying to protect the consumers, but we think he is forgetting that in a free-enterprise market the consumer needs choice.”