BC luxury rental agency has bank accounts frozen over 'unethical' books | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
Subscribe

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Current Conditions Partly Cloudy  11.2°C

Vernon News

BC luxury rental agency has bank accounts frozen over 'unethical' books

FILE PHOTO.
Image Credit: pexels.com

A luxury BC rental company has had its bank accounts frozen and its licence suspended after auditors couldn't work out how much money it had because its books were in such bad shape.

According to a July 25 BC Financial Services Authority decision, Rent it Furnished Reality, had endless shortfalls in its trust account with audits finding that the "level of inaccuracy and deception" made it impossible to know if it was carrying enough money in its accounts to cover its liabilities.

"Rent it Furnished has repeatedly provided BC Financial Services Authority with financial records that contain unexplained discrepancies, indicate a shortage of trust funds, and use 'plugs' in general ledgers to attempt to make the records add up to sums that the numbers on the ledger do not add up to," the regulator said.

The use of "plugs" is a box on a spreadsheet that appears blank but secretly contains a figure to make the numbers balance.

According to Rent it Furnished's website, the company is a leading provider of luxury rental properties in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and New York with more than 5,000 clients.

While going through the company's trust accounts the auditors found a $260,000 shortfall at one point, and books that showed different closing and opening figures from one month to the next.

The audit also found pooled rent payments dating back to previous years that hadn't been forwarded to clients.

READ MORE: BC realtor on the hook $130,000 for 'fraudulent document scheme'

"Rent It Furnished has engaged in accounting practices that are such that BC Financial Services Authority is not able to determine whether Rent it Furnished is in fact holding the amount of funds in trust," the regulator said.

The company's poor accounting practices date back to 2016 when the regulator first took action against it.

In August 2023, it was fined $17,000 and ordered to submit its books every month to the BC Financial Services Authority.

The notice didn't provide any names but said the firm's head broker was fired and a new broker was taken on.

READ MORE: BC realtor fined $50,000 after sale to friends fails

However, the regulator said "despite that fact" the company's accounting remained inadequate.

The new broker told the Financial Services Authority he had been trying to hire a new financial controller but had been prevented from doing so by the company's director. The broker left the company a couple of months ago.

The regulator said while no complaints had been made by clients in the interest of protecting the public it is suspending its licence and freezing its accounts.

"I consider the fact that Rent it Furnished has been engaged in accounting practices in respect of its trust accounts that are... unethical, leads me to a conclusion that it is in the public interest to freeze those trust accounts," the regulator said.


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. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2024
iNFOnews

  • Popular kelowna News
View Site in: Desktop | Mobile