Kamloops realtor fined $40,000 for paperwork missteps
A Kamloops realtor has been fined $40,000 for failing to submit the correct paperwork while selling a couple of strata lot purchases five years ago.
According to a Sept. 19 BC Financial Services Authority decision, realtor Jerri Lee Van represented a developer selling strata lots in an unnamed Kamloops strata in 2019.
Van, who works for Royal LePage Westwin Realty, sold a client's house in early 2019 and then showed the client a strata property in which she was representing the developer.
The decision said the client knew Van was representing the developer and used the brokerage managing broker to represent them.
However, Van didn't get a written agreement from her client and the developer to authorize this.
The client also added some upgrade options to the strata purchase and as a result, the price increased and Van made $122 more commission.
"Van did not provide an updated disclosure of remuneration form to the developer following the change in purchase price and increase to her commission," the decision read.
In early 2019, much the same thing took place during another strata unit sale.
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The decision said Van sold a client's home and then showed them a unit at the strata development where she was selling units.
Again, she didn't obtain a written agreement between the two parties authorizing this.
The regulator said the matter came to light when it received two anonymous complaints in 2019. It didn't say why the issue has taken five years to resolve.
In the decision the regulator said it's mitigating that neither client was harmed in the transaction and both clients knew the long-standing working relationship the realtor had with the developer.
The decision said Van asked her managing broker about the sales but they didn't tell her that an additional written agreement was needed.
The realtor signed a consent agreement admitting to professional misconduct.
The regulator fined her $40,000 for the missteps and ordered Van to pay $3,000 costs. She has 90 days to pay up.
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