West Vancouver realtor guilty of misconduct
One of B.C.’s top realtors deceived a client by telling him he wouldn’t be presented a full-price offer for his home unless he paid $100,000 to another realtor as a bonus, a Real Estate Council of B.C. disciplinary panel has ruled.
West Vancouver realtor Shahin Behroyan faced seven professional misconduct allegations in the case, and was found to have committed five, including failing to act in the best interests of his client.
The most serious allegations of deception and conflict of interest, according to real estate council lawyer Jean Whittow, concerned a $75,000 bonus that Behroyan’s client Hamid Gamini did eventually pay to Behroyan on top of Behroyan’s $72,000 commission for the $2.7-million sale of a Kings Avenue property in November 2014.
Behroyan’s and Gamini’s testimony in the case was directly opposed.
Gamini told the real estate council panel that when his father died his mother asked him to sell their West Vancouver property as soon as possible.
Gamini testified that Behroyan told him that the realtor for John and Alexis Clague, a West Vancouver couple interested in buying the Kings Avenue property, had asked for a $100,000 bonus to complete a deal.
The panel heard that West Vancouver realtor Teresa De Cotiis was agent for the Clagues. But Behroyan insisted that it was Gamini who offered Behroyan a bonus to complete a deal for the Kings Avenue home, which was a tough-to-sell property. Behroyan said he never suggested to Gamini that the bonus would be paid to another realtor.
The panel said in weighing “diametrically opposed” testimony, it considered that both men had a motive to lie. “But Mr. Behroyan arguably has even more at stake,” a decision states. “Apart from the potential liability to repay the bonus and other damages, he faces sanction from the (real estate council) that could have major repercussions on his professional standing and capacity to engage in lucrative employment.”
Gamini’s claim — that Behroyan had said another realtor was demanding the bonus — was supported by a text Gamini sent to Behroyan on Nov. 7: “Shahin 100k is a lot, try to bring it as low as you can I have to convince my family too.”
In its decision, the panel stated: “Behroyan informed (Gamini) that the offer to purchase the property would not be presented unless he agreed to pay a bonus to the buyer’s agent ... This was not true and was an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact that deceived (Gamini) ... At the same time, the representation was dishonest, as it forced (Gamini) to pay a bonus he was not obliged to pay in order to receive the offer ... We had little difficulty finding Mr. Behroyan’s actions constituted deceptive dealing.”
Behroyan did not disclose to Gamini that Behroyan had agreed with De Cotiis to split the Clagues’ commission for the Kings Avenue transaction, the panel found.
The panel also found that Behroyan did not tell Gamini that he had sold the Clagues’ home in November 2014, shortly before Gamini sold his Kings Avenue property to the Clagues.
In the hearing, Whittow pointed to Behroyan’s signing of an agreement to work as realtor with the Clagues several weeks before the Kings Avenue transaction.
Behroyan’s lawyer argued that a contract showed Behroyan had advised Gamini to seek independent legal advice in the Kings Avenue transaction. But the panel found that Gamini was under a pressured deadline to accept the offer presented by Behroyan, and “the term looked more like standard boilerplate as opposed to meaningful advice.”
A penalty hearing for Behroyan is scheduled for next spring.