BC’s real estate services regulator suspended a woman from the industry for 30 days and fined her $50,000 for her misconduct in administering a lease for a client.
Tian Ying Pu was registered as a “commercial services agent” under British Columbia’s Real Estate Services Act in October 2016 when the misconduct began, according to a consent order posted Wednesday on the BC Financial Services Authority website.
At the time, Pooh was approached by the wife of a man she was representing while buying a house in Vancouver in August 2015. The woman asked Pu to help her find a tenant. for the property.
The consent form has been redacted to remove the names of the owner and his wife and the specific address of the property.
WHAT HAPPENED
Pu agreed to help lease the property, but did not provide a written agreement for the lease management services it would provide under the order.
She advertised the house for rent on Craigslist and showed the property to potential tenants, eventually renting it out for $2,500 a month for a one-year term beginning November 1, 2016.
“The lease stated that Ms. Pu was the landlord, and Ms. Pu signed it as the landlord,” the order reads.
Pu also paid the security deposit to a former tenant, paid for the property’s new mailbox key, and paid the City of Vancouver property taxes on the home in 2017.
“From October 2016 to December 2017, Ms. Pu did not disclose the rental agreement or (tenant’s) contact information to the landlord or the complainant (his wife),” the order reads.
According to the document, Pu kept the tenant’s security deposit and monthly rent payments in her personal bank account and did not transfer any funds to the property owner between November 2016 and February 2017.
After that date, according to the consent form, she paid the landlord a total of $12,500 – the equivalent of five months’ rent – to the landlord for the seven months from March to September 2017.
“Between March 2017 and November 2017, the complainant repeatedly inquired about the fact that the rents had not been returned to the landlord,” the document said.
The owner’s wife filed her complaint with the BCFSA in December 2017. She also contacted the brokerage firm Pu worked for to complain about the non-payment.
“Prior to the complaints, the brokerage firm was unaware of the rental management services it was providing to the landlord,” the consent order reads.
“Furthermore, at no time did Ms. Pu hand over the rental funds she collected to the brokerage firm.”
MISCONDUCT
The consent order describes Pu’s behavior as a few different types of wrongdoing.
First, she provided services that she was not authorized to provide as a trading services agent for her brokerage business.
Second, she provided these services “separately and separately” from her brokerage and did not remit to the brokerage any monies received for or through these services.
Third, she did not obtain written authorization to sign the lease with the tenant on behalf of the owner of the building.
And fourth, she “deliberately failed to settle or remit the money received, which belonged to the owner, within a reasonable time.”
Under the consent order, Pu acknowledges that this was wrongdoing and offers various penalties that the BCFSA should impose on him as a result.
THE PUNISHMENT
The order provides for a 30-day suspension of Pu’s license and prohibits her from acting as an unlicensed assistant during the suspension period.
She is also required to pay a $45,000 fine to the BCFSA within three months of the order being approved.
Pu is also required to pay $5,000 in “partial foreclosure” fees to the BCFSA, and she is required to complete two courses: the Real Estate Remedial Education course offered by UBC’s Sauder School of Business and the BCFSA course Ethics for the Real offered to real estate professionals. ”. of the Real Estate Institute of Canada.
“If Ms. Pu fails to comply with any of the conditions of the above order, the superintendent (for real estate) may suspend or revoke her license without further notice,” the order concludes.
Source
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