B.C. realtor fined $5,000 for failing to tell clients about parking
A B.C. realtor has been fined $5,000 for failing to find out whether building permits had been obtained for renovations on a house she sold.
According to an Aug. 22 B.C. Financial Services Authority decision, Vancouver-based realtor Michelle Victoria Collins was fined $5,000 because she failed to make "reasonable efforts" on a variety of issues regarding building permits on a house she sold.
The decision said the fine dates back to a housing sale in May 2015.
"You failed to use reasonable efforts to discover whether necessary municipal permits had been obtained for (the) construction of a structure at the southwest corner of the property," the regulator said.
The decision said Collins also failed to check whether permits were pulled for wiring and plumbing on the property and off-street parking.
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"(Collins) knew, or reasonably ought to have known, that available off-street parking and proper municipal permitting were important to your buyer clients and that any or all of that work required municipal permits," the decision said.
The decision doesn't give any details of what happened to the buyer when it turned out various permits hadn't been obtained.
The decision said this is Collins first and only infraction.
Collins now has 30 days to pay the fine or appeal the decision.
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