MLA urges police probe of realty firm
NEW COAST: Company denies any wrongdoing after recording raises concern about sales practices
B.C.’s real estate industry should no longer be allowed to police itself following revelations of potentially questionable practices at New Coast Realty over the weekend, the Opposition NDP says.
On Friday, the Real Estate Council of B.C. imposed strict conditions on New Coast and essentially put the firm under its direct supervision after a news story reported practices “of serious concern” to the council for a number of weeks, according to the notice posted to its website.
On Monday, NDP housing critic David Eby said he first complained to the council in January about New Coast advertising. He says police should be brought in to investigate.
Revelations over the weekend were from an audio recording of a training session given by New Coast owner Ze Yu Wu, who is not licensed as a realtor, on tactics for getting sellers to make quick sales at lower-thanmarket prices, which would be a violation of agents’ fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of their clients.
New Coast was also implicated in so-called shadow flipping — the use of assignment clauses in sales contracts to effectively flip the contract multiple times at higher prices before the closing date.
Eby said he wrote to the council again in February to suggest it should audit New Coast because its name came up “over and over again in relation to some really scandalous practices,” but was told the council didn’t have that power.
“It’s time for there to be a proper investigation of what’s happening here,” Eby said.
“Because if British Columbians are being ripped off on a large scale in an organized way, that’s a police responsibility,” he said. “If that’s what’s happening here, these people need to be arrested and prosecuted.”
In an emailed statement, sent through the firm’s lawyer, Simon Coval, New Coast denied the allegations.
“New Coast Realty’s agents and management work hard to serve the best interests of our clients and to respect our professional obligations while doing so,” the statement reads. “New Coast is co-operating with the Real Estate Council in reviewing these matters and looks forward to answering the unfair accusations which have been made.”
Finance Minister Mike de Jong said he wants to see the report being compiled by an independent advisory group — struck by the Real Estate Council of B.C. March 15 to review its handling of realtor misconduct — before taking any action.
Ultimately, de Jong said it’s the government’s superintendent of real estate that is responsible for policing the Real Estate Council of B.C.
Superintendent of real estate Carolyn Rogers, who is overseeing the independent advisory group, said an interim report has been delivered to the council, but it has not yet made recommendations.
Rogers said the Real Estate Council of B.C. has the primary responsibility to investigate complaints of wrongdoing within the real estate industry, but her office does have authority to investigate a complaint if she believes the council isn’t looking into a complaint she believes is of public interest.