FILE PHOTO.
(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)
December 15, 2024 - 7:00 PM
A Kelowna realtor has been slapped with $6,000 fine for advertising that a home's basement suite was legal.
Century 21 Assurance Realty realtor Boleslaw Kornel Skapski – who goes by the name Bo – was issued the fine over the sale of a home in West Kelowna.
According to a recently published Oct. 25 BC Financial Services Authority Notice of Administrative Penalty, Skapski "failed to act with reasonable care" when he listed the West Kelowna home.
"You published false or misleading advertising regarding the property... (in) West Kelowna, that you reasonably ought to know contained a false statement about the legal status of the secondary suite," the notice reads.
The regulator says Skapski didn't make sure the listing contained "the accurate legal status of the secondary suite" before it was put on the MLS website.
It handed down a $6,000 penalty for the infraction.
No other information is provided the notice.
Most cities in BC technically don't allow homeowners to rent out basement suites without having a permit, and permits are only given to "legal" suites.
However, it's widely thought that the vast majority of basement suites aren't technically legal and homeowners continue to rent them without repercussions from city hall.
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