Three B.C. real estate agents have recently settled their professional misconduct cases with the Superintendent of Real Estate and agreed to pay fines totalling $73,500.
The largest settlement, for $43,500, is against Lewis Neil Ratcliff and Lewis Ratcliff Personal Real Estate Corporation.
Ratcliff was licensed at Engel & Volkers Vancouver Island (Victoria) when he failed to advise his selling client to seek professional advice regarding rezoning conditions within the sale contract.
The buyer had sought to purchase a North Saanich property from Ratcliff’s client upon being approved by the city to rezone it; however, Ratcliff “failed to include typical contract language for a transaction involving rezoning to ensure the parties clearly understood their respective commitments and obligations.”
A consent order from the superintendent lists numerous other failures by Ratcliff in conducting the transaction between April 2017 and April 2018.
Instead of proceeding to a hearing, the parties agreed Ratcliff would admit his error and be liable to pay a $40,000 fine plus $3,500 in costs.
In a separate consent order, Manoj Kumar (Sam) Saxena has agreed to pay a $20,000 fine and his then girlfriend at the time Rekha Reshmi Raman agreed to pay a $7,500 fine, plus $2,500 in costs to the regulator, for acting in a conflict of interest and providing real estate services outside of their brokerage, LeHomes Realty.
Saxena’s misconduct surrounded a Langley condo pre-sale contract he purchased and flipped (or, assigned) with Raman’s assistance.
Saxena was the buyer but also represented himself as the buyer’s agent, but used his advertised name, Sam Saxena.
Saxena then failed to avoid a conflict of interest by representing the assignees while being the assignor. And, Raman failed to promptly disclose her interest of being the assignor’s partner while acting as the assignor’s agent.
Raman is no longer licensed, the order states.
The orders were made by the BC Financial Services Authority, which regulates real estate agents and transactions and fields complaints from the public.
