Ontario Agents: Requiring Energy Audits Is Wrong

[hausdok]

Kate Hammer - February 25, 2009

In the wake of a new municipal land-transfer tax and unmoored by a sinking economy, Toronto real estate agents are bracing for a new storm on the legislative horizon: Mandatory energy audits for home sales.

Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman's proposed Green Energy Act, which was introduced to the Ontario legislature Monday, contains loosely defined "mandatory conservation and energy efficiency practices" that would cost home sellers about $300.

But with homes lingering on a stagnating market, and average sale prices dropping throughout the GTA, even the distant possibility of one more fee or one more bureaucratic obstacle, leaves real estate agents feeling seasick.

To read the entire article at the GlobeandMail.com, click here.