Justin da Rosa
REP
The message has been sent: Anyone who publishes the Toronto Real Estate Board’s proprietary sold data can expect legal action.
The board has a history of swiftly squashing any individual or organization that tries to publish its sold data – this time targeting a data analyst in Toronto.
Shafquat Arafeen, a mid-twenties data analyst, was threatened legal action by TREB after publishing a visual trends report on the Toronto Housing Market using publicly available data.
Arafeen said his project was merely a bid to better understand the real estate market in Toronto. He also said he was surprised by the cease and desists sent by TREB.
“In the media you’re always hearing about a bubble or prices going up or down and I felt like the only source we had for that was TREB’s monthly postings,” he told REP. “So I wanted to look into the data a little more to be a little more educated. I came across a Chinese site that had house sale data; I figured I could aggregate it and do both data and statistical analysis on it. Mostly just for research and educational purposes.”
Arafeen’s data found a growing gap between an asking price and a sold price, where the sold price was higher than the asking price. Near the end of June, though, he found the numbers were converging.
He is unsure why the board targeted his site.
“When data is more accessible it benefits society as a whole,” he said.
Arafeen eventually received a cease and desist letter from TREB, which he published on his website. He has since taken the data down.
“Your website provides users with access to sold property information for residential listings in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. The sold property information on your website (“the Work”) originates from the TREB MLS System, which comprises a database containing proprietary information of TREB,” the letter, reads. “TREB owns all right, title and interest, including copyright in and to the Work.
“At no time were you or your website authorized or provided with consent by TREB to use or distribute TREB’s proprietary information,” it continues. “Downloading, procuring and reproducing the Work without written licence from TREB is an unauthorized use of TREB’s proprietary information and a breach of copyright.”
When reached for comment, a TREB representative refused to comment, citing the board’s policy of not commenting on legal matters.
This is the latest bid by TREB to protect its sold data.
Last year Fraser Beach, a Toronto-based agent with Select/Plan Real Estate and the publisher of torealestatesold.com, suspended the sales data section of his website after receiving a similar cease and desist from TREB.
At publication time, the website says it is temporarily suspended.
There has also been a long and public battle concerning the publication of TREB’s sold data.
Last summer, the Competition Bureau ordered the board to make its sold data public. However, TREB appealed the decision. A final ruling has not yet been made.
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