(SHELBY THEVENOT / iNFOnews.ca)

A BC realtor who was fined $20,000 last month for failing to submit documents for an audit on time, is on the hook for another $10,000 because of her sloppy timekeeping.

According to an April 20 BC Financial Services Authority decision, Pace Realty Corp. owner Mary-Jean Jacobson failed to file her end-of-year financial report with the regulator and has had her licence downgraded because of it.

The decision says the Prince George-based realtor had four months to file her year-end report but didn't do so.

In emails to the regulator, she blames her previous financial manager saying they'd "dropped the ball" so she was now behind.

She made other excuses saying she wasn't ignoring the regulator but had no "extra time" and was "prioritizing" the needs of clients.

The excuse didn't sit well with the regulator.

"While I am sympathetic to Ms. Jacobson's desire to provide quality service to the clients of the brokerage... the facts indicate that she was specifically placing the requirement that the brokerage comply with the rules at a lower priority," the decision reads.

In another correspondence, she said she had an infected tooth but would get to it within a "day or two." She never did.

She also blamed a high turnover since the pandemic, and that the accounting and finance manager had left the company.

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However, the decision says she'd twice been late filing end-of-year reports prior to the finance manager leaving.

In April 2023, Jacobson racked up almost $20,000 of fines after the regulator began issuing a $250-a-day penalty for not submitting documentation needed for an audit in time.

Ultimately, the regulator took disciplinary action and scheduled a hearing over the missing financial report.

The regulator notes that on the day of the hearing, Jacobson still hadn't filed the numbers, which at this point were almost a year late.

Ultimately, the regulator found Jacobson had committed professional misconduct.

"Simply put, Ms. Jacobson, as a managing broker licensee, was required to ensure that the brokerage complied with... the rules. She did not," the decision reads.

The Financial Services Authority cancelled her managing broker licence, although she can continue working as a licensed associate broker, and ordered her to complete a broker's licensing course.

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She now has 90 days to file the end-of-year report and pay $10,562 in costs.

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