Rentals regulator halts `Wolf of Burrard'

B.C.'s real estate regulator has issued what it described as an urgent order against a former property manager, Colton Roberts. Roberts uses the Instagram name “Wolf of

Burrard St,” and the regulator

alleges he was taking security deposits from prospective renters for properties he purported to manage.

The superintendent of real estate's order also named two companies it said were associated with Roberts: Renters Management Inc. and Bluhome Properties.

They are all “to cease providing, including offering to provide, directly or indirectly, real estate services, including rental property management services in B.C., effective

immediately.”

The order said “the length of time that would be required to complete an investigation or hold a hearing, or both, would be detrimental to the

public interest.”

And they “would likely result in further non-compli

ance,” given the potential

scope of Roberts' activities based on the number of complaints about his unlicensed services, several companies, and “pattern of collecting deposits for properties to

which he has no right.”

The superintendent also ordered Roberts to provide a list of tenants and landlords to whom he or the companies have provided services.

Reached by phone, Roberts said the description of this being an urgent order of public interest “seems quite overblown in my opinion. I haven't worked in real estate for

the last six months,” since he

was contacted by the superintendent in August 2020. The order, issued Friday, includes details about five complaints.

They started in May 2020, but one received by the superintendent in October 2020 was related to a previous complaint that had been filed about Roberts in July 2018.

Two complaints involved security deposits taken after the signing of long-term leases where the property owners said their properties were not on the market.