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A B.C. realtor has been fined $30,000 and will have to take remedial courses in order to get his licence back after he misused his trust account.

According to a Feb. 17 B.C. Financial Services Authority decision, Philip John Danyluk and his brokerage Venture West Real Estate Services were deemed "high risk" and required an audit in May 2020.

However, the decision said as Danyluk let his licence expire a few months later and wound up the brokerage, the B.C. Financial Services Authority decided to take no further action against him.

Two years later in June 2022, he applied for relicensing as a rental property manager and the Financial Services Authority then ordered a disciplinary hearing.

It was that hearing that netted him the $30,000 fine.

According to the decision, Danyluk was the managing broker at Venture West Real Estate Services, which was known as formerly known as Team 3000 Property Management between 2016 and 2020. The company managed around 100 rental units for 70 clients.

The audit uncovered that Danyluk had a $10,000 shortage in his trust account in some part of 2020.

"There were at least nine unsupported transfers between the trust and general accounts of the Brokerage. These transfers appear to be related to borrowing from the trust account to the general account, whether the general account was overdrawn or not," the decision said. "Notations in the Brokerage ledgers indicate Mr. Danyluk directed the transfers."

The B.C. Financial Services Authority found that Danyluk had committed professional misconduct for a multitude of technical reasons.

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"(Danyluk) failed to disclose benefits he anticipated receiving directly or indirectly... through providing rental property management services through the Brokerage," the decision read.

The regulator also found that he had failed to keep his trust account in order.

"(Danyluk) failed to prepare and maintain proper books and records... (and) failed to take immediate steps to eliminate negative balance... in the pooled rental trust account," the decision read.

He also permitted money to be withdrawn from the trust account without the consent or knowledge of the client.

Danyluk signed a consent order admitting to professional misconduct.

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The Financial Service Authority fined him $30,000 and he'll have to pay $1,500.

The decision said this is not the first time he's been in trouble with the regulator. In 2014, he was disciplined and ordered to pay $1,250 in costs.

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