B.C. realtor fined for commission scheme, loses licence for 2 years
A B.C. realtor who destroyed documents once he knew he was under investigation, has lost his licence for two years after he manipulated a series of sales to net him more commission than he was owed.
According to a B.C. Financial Services Authority decision, Luis Eduardo Ayala Gomez conspired along with another realtor – referred to as AX in the document – to obtain higher commission than they were due.
In a recently published consent order Oct. 6, Gomez, who goes by the name Luis Ayala, and was a trading representative in Richmond with West Coast Realty Ltd. - that does business under the name Sutton West Coast Realty - admitted to committing professional misconduct.
Ayala, who'd been practicing since 2006, was fined $1,500 and banned from working as a realtor for two years.
According to the decision, Ayala was approached by AX who asked him to allow his name to be used as the buyer’s agent on AX's listings, although AX would provide all services to both the buyers and the sellers. The scheme would increase the amount of commission payable on the sale of the property as it involved a buyer's brokerage as well.
Ayala would then receive a portion of the extra commission from AX.
The decision says the scheme took place over five real estate transactions between 2016 and 2017.
In two of the real estate sales, Ax and Ayala facilitated the use of a nominee purchaser to tie the property up and then immediately assign the contracts of purchase and sale to a third-party purchaser for a higher purchase price.
"It was represented to the original sellers, AX clients, that Ayala was acting for the buyer," the decision reads. "The purpose of this arrangement was to generate profit from the higher sale price of the assignment of the property to the exclusion of the original seller of the property."
The decision says Ayala was aware of this and agreed to participate, although he did not get any profit from the scam.
Following an investigation by the real estate council, Ayala was interviewed twice but both times denied any wrongdoing.
During a third interview, he admitted he hadn't been "entirely truthful in his earlier statements" and admitted to the deceit.
Ayala also admitted he destroyed documents relating to the sales to throw off the investigation. He also admitted he'd met with AX and another realtor to ensure their statements were all on the same page.
He later "personally apologized" for how he dealt with the investigation, reads the decision.
The realtor also paid the commission back to the sellers he had swindled for more than $25,000.
The decision says Ayala paid the money back voluntarily and in some cases it exceeded the amount of excess commission he'd made. There was no contribution from AX in the repayments.
Ayala now has to pay a fine of $1,500 within two months and had his licence suspended for two years.
You can read the full decision here.
READ MORE: B.C. Realtor suspended six months, fined for professional misconduct
-- This story was updated at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, to include the name Sutton West Coast Realty.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
