Realtor fined for taking tenant’s dog

HALIFAX — A Dartmouth Realtor is in the doghouse with her regulatory body for taking a hound named Snoopy from a tenant in a home she was trying to sell.

The Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission suspended Sarah Sullivan of Century 21 Trident Realty Ltd. effective Jan. 16 until Feb. 15 for violating the province’s real estate laws. Sullivan has also been ordered to pay $2,500 in fines.

“The violations resulted from an investigation of a complaint from a member of the public. The complainant, who owned a dog, was a tenant of a property that was listed for sale. Ms. Sullivan viewed the property with a potential buyer,” said the decision from the commission.

“At a later date, Ms. Sullivan approached the complainant, and asked if they were interested in selling the dog, which they advised they were not. Ms. Sullivan offered to take the dog while they moved out of the property.”

Sullivan took the dog and failed to return it, said the decision.

“In response to efforts by the complainant to have the dog returned, Ms. Sullivan inappropriately used or (threatened) to use information she acquired only as a result of her access to the property as a real estate licensee. When the matter was investigated, she provided false/misleading information to the investigator on several occasions.”

This isn’t the first time she has been in trouble with the regulatory body.

“Ms. Sullivan had previously been disciplined in 2014 for providing false information to the commission during the course of an investigation.”

Sullivan’s actions hurt the profession as a whole, said the decision about taking the dog.