Rob was friendly and did his best to convince me that my understanding of their business wasn’t accurate He even offered to share more info including video testimonials of their happy “owner-residents” with the hope I might change my mind and see what they are doing is great 2/

I gave it some thought. Researching Key’s business model is not a top priority for me right now but I did figure Poloz deserves a fair shake. So I followed up with them to say I only needed one thing, the contract owner-residents sign with Key. 3/

Glowing testimonials from people who don’t understand real estate is not important to me. Contracts don’t lie and I was interested to see how their contracts are set up from a consumer perspective. What hidden costs/fees are associated with their business 4/

And of course, I offered to write a mea culpa if their business was different from what I presented in my original thread. If it was fair for their owner-residents and if the terms of the contract line up with their promises. 5/

They refused. Apparently their contracts are top secret and only pulled out of the vault when someone is ready to sign. 6/

My concern is that this company, through their own admission, are targeting people who because of poor credit, low income or low savings can’t qualify for a mortgage. The poorest members of our society 7/

Do these people have the money to hire a lawyer to review Key’s contract before signing it? Probably not Have journalists reviewed this contract to see how they impact consumers before writing glowing articles about them? Probably not 8/ https://www.thestar.com/news/g...

So, if you’re considering signing an agreement with Key and don’t have the means to pay for a lawyer to review it, send me a DM. I’d be happy to pay to have a lawyer I trust review it for you if you’re fine with me sharing their comments online so others can benefit 9/

This business and this community have been good to me. If I can help someone who can’t afford to do the right due diligence possibly avoid a bad decision or maybe proceed more confidently by investing with Key if their contract is fair, I’m happy to do that. 10/

If you know someone considering signing up with Key, please share this. What is motivating me to look into Key’s model further? I really don’t like it when big companies mislead or take advantage of people who are less wealthy or informed. 11/

I’m not saying Key is doing that I know very little about their business But I’ve been in this business long enough to have a good sense for what looks right & what doesn’t & my hunch is that Key is not the great social enterprise they claim to be But I could be wrong 12/

I’m happy to have a lawyer review their agreement and to share their unbiased views. If I was wrong about them, I have no problem admitting this. And if I’m not, I’ll make sure to unpack their ownership structure from a consumer perspective. 13/

PS: If you're looking at investing with Key & they ask you to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) before giving you their contract, or if they are not encouraging you to have your own lawyer review it... Run, don't walk out of the door You don't need to know anything more/

@JohnPasalis This was a beauty John

@ronmortgageguy Thanks Ron

@JohnPasalis You are being more than fair - appreciate you sharing your insights and thinking on this. Great work, John.

@preetbanerjee Thanks Preet!

@JohnPasalis Respect. Refreshing to see someone looking out for someone besides themselves.

@JohnPasalis Wow, great response John. Thank you for looking out for the consumer, something our governments are refusing to do.

@JohnPasalis Candidly John: Probably one of your best threads. 1. I hope they share their (actual) contract. 2. It's amazing the businesses people can pass as innovative just by calling themselves a tech company.

@JohnPasalis John, their safe habour 😂.”Key management has made certain assumptions regarding the real estate equity value…. annual appreciation rate of 8% on the real property owned by Key…less than the Toronto…historical….annual average appreciate rate of 13.4% from 2014 through 2018”

@JohnPasalis @JohnPasalis "is the Realtor Hero we deserve, the one it needs right now. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian. A watchful protector. A Dark Knight "

@JohnPasalis I first saw Key's website about 8 months ago. They had a calculator on their website (now it's gone). My understanding was that you could only purchase a stake in future appreciation even if you paid a 100% down payment. Now they allow you to buy after renting for 3 years. 🤷‍♀️

@JohnPasalis Great thread, thank you

@JohnPasalis

@JohnPasalis John. I see a very professional opinion on cautioning the less privileged people. Also like your bravery standing against a corporate entity. Like you said there are signs of something fishy. Wonderful job.

@JohnPasalis Thank you sir

@JohnPasalis Thanks for bringing this forward……will be watching with interest!

@JohnPasalis Hi John. I think this is a great message and that it's very cool of you to dig further into the social impact caused by the financialization of housing. Have you looked at @addyinvest? I think their model for commercial may be fine but may be similarly harmful for residential.

@JohnPasalis I find it very interesting they are hiding their contract from you. That speaks volumes in terms of transparency - not! Sure sounds shady to me after reading this

@JohnPasalis Excellent thread @JohnPasalis - hats off to you for offering to cover legal costs to review the Key Contract for those that might skip this step due to their financial state. Your request to review the contract is fair under the terms you presented. What are they hiding?

@JohnPasalis so many of our public servants are morally bankrupt and self serving, and it is hurting the country. Thanks for calling it out...

@JohnPasalis U da man!!

@JohnPasalis Surprise surprise people will do anything for money

@JohnPasalis Great going John. Keep up the good work!

@JohnPasalis Well done sir