Deceptive practices and misrepresentation in B.C. real estate are among the top complaints levelled at the sector, according to a provincial regulator.
In its first-ever consumer complaints report, published Dec. 5, the B.C. Financial Services Authority said it received 1,234 complaints against the real estate sector during its last fiscal year. Meanwhile, it closed 1,690 real estate complaints, leaving 609 open complaints as of March 31.
Themes of the real estate complaints received by BCFSA include misrepresentation, deceptive practices/conduct unbecoming, unlicensed activity, duties to clients, disclosure and conflicts of interest.
Misrepresentation accounted for 20 per cent of all real estate complaints. It includes providing inaccurate or incorrect information about a property, such as incorrect measurements or incorrect information about land use, zoning or tenancies.
Deceptive practices/conduct unbecoming and unlicensed activity both accounted for 17 per cent of complaints.
BCFSA responded to real estate complaints through formal enforcement actions, such as monetary penalties with or without license suspension or cancellation (21 instances).
More commonly, it utilized informal actions such as letters of advisement (248 instances), undertakings (2) and voluntary compliance (27). In many cases, it had no authority (374) or insufficient evidence (895), or the complaint was withdrawn or abandoned (62).
In the real estate sector, BCFSA regulates Realtors, brokers, property managers and strata managers, among others.
Regarding the mortgage services segment, BCFSA received 86 complaints in its last fiscal year, and closed 91 complaints during that period. The top theme was market conduct (64 per cent of complaints), including failure to verify the accuracy of information or submitting documents with falsified information.
The report noted that BCFSA lacks authority to handle certain types of complaints, such as commission disputes between licensees, strata council decisions, landlord-tenant matters and insurance claim settlements.
BCFSA said that during the last fiscal year, it worked to resolve a large inventory of complaints inherited from the Real Estate Council of B.C. and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate, both of which were folded into a newly integrated BCFSA on Aug. 1, 2021.
