A B.C. Realtor has been banned from the real estate profession and fined more than $80,000 for engaging in “predatory” behaviour toward a client, according to a recent hearing decision from the B.C. Financial Services Authority.
In 2015 Ismail Jamal Jinnah, who was also a submortgage broker at the time, completed his first two property transactions as a real estate agent but did so with two individuals — the buyer and seller — with whom he had personal relationships.
Jinnah, while licensed as a representative of Blueprint Realty Inc./RE/MAX Blueprint, sold a Surrey home on behalf of both the seller and buyer. He then assisted the seller with buying a new home, also in Surrey, according to hearing officer Thelma O’Grady’s decision published Jan.23.
Jinnah did not disclose this apparent conflict of interest to either client, according to the ruling.
Jinnah also charged an abnormally large commission ($39,000) and did not advise the seller to get legal representation. Notably, Jinnah also pressured the seller to sell her home.
According to the decision, Jinnah “pressured and manipulated her to essentially switch properties with [Individual 2]. Mr. Jinnah took advantage of [Individual 1] who, because she was in a close relationship with him and trusted him, was vulnerable. This type of behaviour can only be described as predatory.”
Jinnah also took no steps to market the home, according to O’Grady.
More problems were identified at the five-day hearing: Jinnah “allowed her to risk not having the proceeds from the sale of [Property 1] to close on the [Property 2] deal, he failed to explain the subject removals to her, and he did not provide her with the strata documents for [Property 2] until she was on her way to the conveyancing lawyer after she had already waived the subject,” according to the decision.
Jinnah also did not co-operate with BCFSA investigators, according to O’Grady.
“He engaged in intentional dishonesty and deception,” stated O’Grady in the decision that stripped Jinnah of his licence.
Despite the confluence of professional misconduct, Jinnah was only penalized the old $10,000 maximum fine because the much higher current maximum fine of $250,000 was only introduced in September 2016, after the 2015 transaction.
But O’Grady was not lenient on Jinnah in ordering him to repay BCFSA for the full hearing costs of $70,773 as submitted by the regulator.
