Andrew Laity in this photo dated 2013.

Image Credit: Yelp/List Assist Realty

A former BC realtor who accused the regulator of "fraud, corruption, perjury and rape" has failed to get his licence back after he escalated his claim all the way to the BC Supreme Court.

According to a July 7 Supreme Court of BC decision,  Andrew Brian Laity was the managing broker at List Assist Mere Postings Ltd. from 2012 to 2018 but ran into trouble when he had to renew his licence.

When applying to renew his realtor licence he admitted he'd been criminally charged.

The decision said in 2017 he was charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm to family members, assaulting two security guards and assaulting a jail guard.

He later had the charges stayed as he opted into an Alternative Measures Program. The program allowed him to avoid any criminal record if he took counselling and anger management sessions and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. There is no reason given as to why Laity got offered this route even though he'd committed violent crimes.

With the charges against him ticking through the system, the BC Real Estate Council refused him a full licence but offered to renew him as an associate broker.

He appears to have ignored the regulator and went to work in China.

However, a year later he was back and making a new application for a licence to become an associate broker with a new brokerage.

It was then his dealings with the regulator started to fall apart.

"In his dealings with the Council, Mr. Laity sent several emails in which he made accusations of fraud, corruption and rape within the real estate industry, and extremely disparaging and inflammatory comments about Council staff," the decision read.

The Real Estate Council said they'd only give him a licence if he could find a brokerage that would supervise him as an associate broker.

READ MORE: 'Too busy': BC realtor makes excuses to delay disciplinary hearing

He then demanded a hearing to argue his case.

However, if he wanted to win over his regulator, he didn't go about it very well.

"In the course of the qualification hearing, Mr. Laity did not adduce any evidence in support of his suitability to be licensed. He continued to make accusations concerning the real estate industry in general and Council staff in particular," BC Supreme Court Justice Lisa Warren said in the decision.

The decision said Laity's evidence during the hearing was "evasive to an extreme" and he repeatedly said, "I don’t know, I just don’t know."

The regulator said his testimony lacked credibility, he contradicted himself and he was "inherently unbelievable."

It found he was not of a "good reputation and suitable for licencing" and barred him from applying for another three years.

READ MORE: BC mortgage broker who shared log-in and password fined $30K

He then appealed to the Financial Services Tribunal.

However, he then made the same accusations of fraud and corruption.

Unsurprisingly, he lost the appeal and was ordered to pay costs of $2,200.

Clearly undeterred he then headed to the BC Supreme Court petitioning for a judicial review.

He argued the regulator had "turned a blind eye to fraud."

Laity claimed that the regulator's staff when assessing his bookkeeping – which had previously been found to have irregularities – had submitted altered documents and then committed perjury when they testified.

He highlighted minor typos and incorrect dates and pointed to copies of documents some with signatures, and some without.

But Justice Warren said he hadn't explained what the significance of the "at most" typographical errors was.

READ MORE: B.C. realtor sanctioned for not understanding meaning of word 'loan'

"None of the evidence he referred to came close to supporting his allegations," the Justice said. "I wish to emphasize that, although it is not the Court’s role to evaluate the evidence before the Hearing Committee, Mr. Laity failed entirely to support his vague allegations of fraud, corruption and perjury."

Ultimately, the court dismissed his claim.

While the BC Financial Services Authority didn't ask for any costs, the Justice awarded them anyway, ordering Laity to pay the regulator's legal fees.

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