The Ford government is threatening to step in and take control of Ontario’s real estate regulator, the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), after a scandal involving the collapse of iPro Realty left millions of dollars in limbo.

iPro’s co-founders, Rui Alves and Fedel Colucci, were accused of misusing about $10 million from the brokerage’s trust accounts—funds meant to safeguard homebuyer deposits and realtor commissions. Instead, the money was allegedly diverted to cover operating costs and payments to investors.

Despite uncovering the misconduct in May, RECO allowed iPro’s trust accounts to remain active for months, overseeing more than $720 million in real estate transactions even though the accounts were already compromised. This delay has left realtors unable to access deposits and commissions, with some losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“This is not a joke,” said realtor Nazie Moseni, who has $150,000 locked in the frozen account. Others, like Toronto realtor Teuta Guci, are facing losses near $1 million—money needed to pay staff and keep their businesses afloat.

The fallout has been swift. RECO’s registrar, Joseph Richer, was dismissed in mid-August, and the regulator has since hired law firm Dentons to audit how decisions were made. Still, realtors and mortgage brokers argue that RECO’s oversight failures are “unforgivable,” and many are calling for the government to step in directly.

Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery Stephen Crawford has signaled he’s prepared to do just that. If the current audit doesn’t provide accountability, he says he’ll consider appointing an administrator to take over RECO.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s five largest realtor associations have publicly supported the government’s move, calling for stronger accountability, Ombudsman oversight, and meaningful reforms to restore confidence in the system.

For the hundreds of realtors and clients caught in the middle, however, the priority is clear: getting their money back, and fast.