What is the Home Buyer Rescission Period?

The Home Buyer Rescission Period was developed by the British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). The BCFSA is the governing body for BC real estate agents. The HBRP was implemented in response to the multiple offer situations in 2020-2022. During that frenzy, buyers were writing overpriced offers with no subjects, and then upon acceptance of their offer, regret set in as there was no “easy” way out of the transaction. The HBRP is also known as a non-negotiable, “cooling off period”.

The HBRP provides buyers an opportunity to rescind their subject-free contract to purchase certain residential properties. These properties in Whistler include those zoned for nightly rentals. The buyer has three business days after an offer is accepted to decide whether to rescind the offer or not. To rescind there is a financial penalty of 0.25% of the accepted price. In other words, if you rescind or pull out of a subject-free offer, the buyer pays the seller 0.25% of the accepted price.

Offer with Subject Conditions

There are several scenarios that can occur with short subject removal condition dates. For example, this happens when the Buyer has received the strata documents but is now waiting for a current Form B. That might have been ordered and is due any day. Therefore the realtors would agree to a short subject removal condition date. Here are examples:

1. When an offer has subject conditions , the buyer is still able to rescind within 3 days, and this time, there is no 0.25% penalty. However, best practice dictates that the buyer would be prudent to wait until the subject conditions removal date and then not remove subjects. The buyer and seller have agreed to a due diligence period so, the buyer should make the most of that time.

2) It may be best to have the subject removal date at least one day after the end of the HBRP. The subject conditions override the HBRP.

3) When the subject removal date is before the HBRP date, then the subject conditions are removed by that date. However, the Buyer can still exercise their right to withdraw from the contract under the HBRP. See table below.

The following table is used to explain this, please note, that there are no Saturday, Sunday, or stat holidays in this example.

Subject Removal Date	HPRP Active Dates
Jan 10	Jan 7-9	subject conditions over-rule HBRP. The Buyer should wait until Jan 10 to notify the Seller of either removing the subject conditions or not removing subject conditions.
Jan 8	Jan 7-9	subject conditions removed but the Buyer has until Jan 9 to withdraw from the contract and pay the penalty.

Deposit Process

When I write a contract with subject conditions, the deposit is due within 3 days of subject removal date. In this case where the subject removal date was Jan 7, the deposit would be related to the subject condition. In this same example, should an offer be written delaying the deposit until Jan 10 that would be a red flag to the seller that the buyer may not be willing to pay the HBRP penalty. This penalty is between the Buyer and Seller, it has nothing to do with the realtors. The process to collect this penalty would be arduous and should be avoided. Read my blog Deposits are Serious Business

No HBRP

There is no HBRP on Phase 2 properties. This is because the phase 2 property is treated as a business income property, rather than a rental property.

There is no HBRP on Quarter-Share Properties. Quarter shares are phase 1 properties. No explanation as to why the HBRP is excluded.

Working with a Real Estate Agent

Understanding and explaining the HBRP to a client is the role of your realtor. This is part of Representation and is one of the first interactions you will have. Buying real estate is a litigious game, so ensure that you are working with an experienced, local Whistler real estate agent.

If you think I would be a good fit to work with you and your family, and you are not already working with a Whistler realtor, please contact me. My name is Marion Anderson, and I help people buy real estate in Whistler.

Marion