There is a moment in every real estate transaction when everything is signed and nothing is finished. The offer has been accepted, the conditions have been met, and there are still a few weeks before the appointment at the notary’s office.
That is precisely the window where things go wrong. The seller does not vacate on time. The buyer walks away. Someone passes away. A dispute appears over the state of the property.
Tranquilli-T exists for that window.
What it is
Tranquilli-T is a protection program created by RE/MAX Québec and offered exclusively by participating RE/MAX brokers. It is not sold. It is provided free of charge to the eligible client as a protection certificate, once all the conditions of the promise to purchase have been met, with the exception of the signing of the notarial deed.
You pay nothing. You add nothing to your offer. There is no paperwork on your side: I handle it.
The five protections
The program covers five distinct situations.
1. Delays and withdrawal. If the transaction is delayed or cancelled for a covered reason, the program takes on certain additional costs you would otherwise absorb alone: storage, temporary accommodation, expenses tied to a postponed move.
2. Death. If the buyer or their spouse dies between the accepted offer and the deed of sale, protection applies. It is the scenario nobody thinks about, and the one that leaves a family in an impossible position.
3. Legal assistance. This is the centrepiece. You get access to a telephone legal information service staffed by lawyers who are members of the Quebec Bar and experienced in real estate law. The service runs Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., excluding Quebec statutory holidays. The number of calls is unlimited.
4. Small claims. If your dispute ends up in the Small Claims Division, the program provides up to three hours of assistance to help you prepare your case. You represent yourself before that court, so knowing what to prepare and how to frame it makes a real difference.
5. Settlement assistance. The program also supports amicable dispute resolution, before a disagreement escalates into a proceeding.
Why the legal assistance changes everything
Most people never call a lawyer about a real estate question. Not because they do not need to, but because they do the math: a consultation runs $250 to $400 an hour, and the question does not feel serious enough to justify the expense.
So they guess. They ask a friend. They search online. And sometimes that uninformed decision costs ten times the price of the consultation they skipped.
With Tranquilli-T, that calculation disappears. Do you have a question about your occupancy obligations, about a clause in the promise to purchase, about a right of way, about what the seller was supposed to leave behind? You call. It is included.
Who is eligible
The program applies to individuals, groups of individuals and estates represented by a participating RE/MAX broker.
Eligible:
- Principal residences of five units or fewer
- Year-round secondary residences
- Condominiums
- Permanently anchored mobile homes
- Properties on up to 40 acres
- Hobby farms on up to 100 acres
- Properties with a sale price of $5 million or less
Not eligible:
- New construction
- Vacant land
- Abandoned properties
- Foreclosures, except on the buyer’s side
- Corporations, companies and developers
How it works in practice
There is nothing to sign up for. Here is the actual sequence:
- We work together on your purchase or your sale.
- Your promise to purchase is accepted and all conditions are met, except the notarial signature.
- I give you your Tranquilli-T protection certificate.
- If you need the legal service or want to file a claim, you contact the Tranquilli-T Assistance Centre at 1-844-736-2988 (1-844-REMAXTT).
The program is insured by Prince Edward Island Insurance Company and administered by insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher Canada Limited. This is not a verbal promise from a broker. It is an insurance contract with a named insurer.
What it means for you
A client once asked me why I insisted so much on a program that, in the best case, will never be used.
That is exactly the point. You do not obtain insurance hoping to use it. You obtain it so that the unlikely scenario does not become the catastrophic one.
In a transaction where you commit hundreds of thousands of dollars, having a lawyer reachable at no charge throughout the critical period is not a detail. It is the difference between acting on reliable information and acting on an assumption.
Interested in this program?
It is included in my service, at no extra cost. Write to me and I will explain exactly what applies to your situation.
