Expired Listings & Privacy Laws: REALTORS® Beware!
By Tony Slavin, Broker & Mortgage Professional

by Tony Slavin

The opportunity—and the trap
In our shifting 2025 market, terminated and expired listings are piling up faster than at any time in recent memory. Strata.ca tracked a 643 per cent jump in cancelled condo listings across the GTA in just six months of 2022, and the elevated pace has carried through 2024 and early 2025 as higher rates keep buyers on the sidelines.​Strata
Low-hanging fruit?
For some agents this looks like low-hanging fruit: the listing is gone, so the seller must be desperate—right? Wrong.
Privacy violation risk
If a seller checked “NO” to post-expiry contact on the OREA listing agreement, that prohibition follows the listing even after it disappears from MLS. Ignoring it isn’t aggressive marketing; it’s a potential privacy violation carrying real legal risk.
When the line is crossed
I recently watched it happen on one of my own listings. The day after expiry, the owner’s phone lit up with unsolicited calls. Door-knockers showed up, armed with my seller’s full name and a pitch to “let us relist.” Security cameras caught two agents beelining from the park straight to that single house. Another caller falsely claimed the property couldn’t be relisted for two days—pure intimidation.
Unsolicited calls
The owner’s phone lit up with unsolicited calls.
Door-knockers
Agents showed up with the seller’s full name and a pitch to “let us relist.”
False claims
Another caller falsely claimed the property couldn’t be relisted for two days—pure intimidation.
Unacceptable conduct
Let’s be crystal clear: this is unacceptable conduct. It erodes consumer trust and demeans our profession.
The legal boundary is black-and-white
OREA Listing Clause
Every Ontario listing asks the seller whether other REALTORS® may contact them after expiry. A “NO” is a binding instruction—not a suggestion.
PIPEDA & Privacy Commissioner rulings
Using MLS data to solicit an expired listing without consent breaches federal privacy law. OREA highlighted this in a 2006 bulletin after a brokerage was found in violation.​OREA
TRESA (Trust in Real Estate Services Act 2002, updated 2023)
Now frames all agreements as representation agreements and reinforces the duty to follow the client’s written instructions—including post-expiry contact limits.​Real Estate Council of OntarioReal Estate Council of Ontario
Ignore at your peril
Ignore these rules and you’re exposed to complaints to RECO and even the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Reputation damage is forever
Ring cams
Sellers today document everything—ring cams, screenshots, email headers.
Viral TikTok
One privacy breach can turn into a viral TikTok, a RECO complaint, and a slug on Google Reviews that never vanishes.
Negative stereotypes
Worse, it confirms every cliché about REALTORS® being pushy and self-serving.
See something? Say something
Start with your Broker of Record.
They can speak broker-to-broker and shut down rogue behaviour before regulators step in.
Escalate if necessary.
Serious breaches can be reported directly online to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Protecting client privacy
Silence is complicity. Protecting client privacy protects all of us.
Let’s raise the bar
1
Respect the “NO CONTACT” box—every time.
2
Build relationships through value, not violation.
3
Educate colleagues who still think “if I don’t get caught, it’s fine.”
Consumers deserve better—and so do the many REALTORS® who already play by the rules.
Have questions or need guidance?
I’m always happy to talk privacy, strategy, or anything real estate.
Tony Slavin Broker | Mortgage Professional | Educator 📧 [email protected] 🌐 unknown link 📞 905-767-0101
Serving Ontario buyers and sellers since 1998—ethically, expertly, every time.