 Licensing & Renewals > Property Management > Opening a Brokerage > Legal Entity/Trade Name
At the time a brokerage becomes licensed with RECA, it is licensed in its legal entity name whether it is a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation. The brokerage may also, at that time or a later date, register a trade name with Alberta Registries for the legal entity/brokerage. For the purposes of the Real Estate Act, the brokerage will be limited to the use of one trade name. The “trade as” name is the name the brokerage must use for all licensed activities and is the name that must be clearly indicated in advertising. Note that in order to use a trade name, a brokerage must formally apply to RECA to use that name and provide proof of trade name filing from Alberta Registries to RECA. RECA will not approve a trade name if that name is so similar to a current brokerage as to be confusing to the public.
RECA requires the following information as part of the application process:
- Full and exact name of corporation/partnership/sole proprietorship
- A corporation’s identity must be as it appears in the articles of incorporation, certificate of amendment or other legal document
- Partnerships require the full legal name of the registered partnership and the name of the partner or manager designated by the partnership as the broker
- Registration number
- The registration/corporate access number appears on the certificate of incorporation, partnership filing and/or sole proprietorship filing
Sometimes, a corporation name change or an amalgamation results in a change to the licensed brokerage’s corporate registration/access number. If this number changes, the current brokerage’s legal entity changed. As a result, RECA will terminate the existing brokerage’s licence, and a new brokerage licence must be applied for on behalf of the new legal entity. |
