433 inspections, 2,018 deficiencies, one quarter — this is not a rare event.
Short answer
A RECO inspection is a records and trust-account review conducted under statutory authority — the officer must identify themselves and state that authority on first contact. RECO runs this at real scale: between January and March 2026 alone, it completed 433 brokerage inspections and identified 2,018 deficiencies, most commonly in monthly trust-account reconciliation.
RECO's inspectors and investigators are appointed as Provincial Offences Officers under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, for offences spanning several statutes. RECO's own Code of Professionalism requires them to “conduct themselves in a manner that promotes respect for the law” and maintain public confidence, and specifically to provide self-identification and “the statutory authority for the inspection or investigation” on first contact — you're entitled to know exactly who is inspecting you and under what power before the inspection proceeds.
RECO's own June 2026 brokerage-leadership bulletin reports the scale directly: “Between January and March 2026, RECO completed 433 brokerage inspections and identified 2018 deficiencies.” The top area of non-compliance, by a wide margin, is monthly trust-account reconciliation — brokers of record are required to review their Real Estate Trust Account reconciliation every month, and RECO's own case notes from that quarter describe brokerages that were unaware fraudulent cheques had been cashed against their trust account for over two years, and others that disbursed funds before the corresponding deposit cheque had actually been received. The other areas on RECO's own top-10 list include trade record sheets, trust account maintenance, Real Estate Trust Account designation, advertising, and the contents of written agreements.
RECO's annual financial filing page confirms that, effective October 1, 2026, every Ontario brokerage must submit an annual financial filing — stated as being “complemented by RECO's audit and inspections work” as a “proactive oversight measure” requiring documentation of proper financial management and TRESA compliance. Inspections are not a one-off event triggered by a complaint; they run alongside this new, ongoing filing obligation.
Obstructing an inspection is its own separate violation, not just an aggravating factor. RECO's Discipline Committee can, per its own complaints-process page, “impose a fine of up to $50,000 for agents and up to $100,000 for brokerages,” on top of educational requirements, costs, conditions, or suspension/revocation of a registration; a provincial-offence prosecution can separately carry fines up to $50,000 for an individual (up to $250,000 for a corporation) and up to two years' imprisonment. Good recordkeeping discipline and a clean answer to what your insurance actually responds to are both worth sorting out well before an inspector calls, not during one.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell you whether your process holds up.
