Real estate brokerages have licences restricted
Two fast-growing Vancouver-area brokerages have had restrictions placed on their licences by the Real Estate Council.
The council won’t say when it placed the restrictions, and details have only been publicly accessible since the regulator made changes to its website his month.
“Conditions may be placed on a licence for a variety of reasons. We recommend that anyone with questions about the circumstances that led to conditions being placed on a licence or the length of time the conditions have been in place, should ask the licensee about those issues,” the council said in an emailed statement.
The council has ordered Metro Edge Realty, which says it completed more than 400 transactions in 2015, appoint a managing broker approved by the council who must sign off on all listing information before it is posted. The managing broker must also submit monthly reports with details about all transactions where the company represents both the buyer and seller and detail the use of any unlicensed assistants and their exact duties.
Authority for trust account signings, including for electronic transfers, must be approved in writing and ahead of time by the council. The council must also be alerted to any listing that offers any form of commission bonus.
At Nu Stream, the council has imposed many of the same restrictions, plus others appeared aimed at containing the company’s expansion. Nu Stream may not apply for licences for additional locations or branches other than a Burnaby office already under construction. Without consent by the council, it may not have more than 200 licensees, 15 teams or more than 12 licensees on any team.
Until now, the spotlight on aggressive training practices, as well as shadow-flipping and taking of commissions, has been focused on New Coast Realty. These restrictions show the council’s interest goes beyond one firm.
“Restrictions are imposed in advance of a public hearing when the council thinks the public might be at risk, so they are a very serious thing and there is reason to be concerned,” said David Eby, the NDP’s housing critic.
“The entire industry has known about these,” said Lawrence Jin, president and owner of Metro Edge. “They are not new.”
Jin said the conditions followed those imposed on New Coast Realty in April because the council was concerned “many agents from New Coast were moving to Metro Edge and Nu Stream and they were afraid that there would be the (same) conduct or the same behaviour.”
Wells Peng, an owner of Nu Stream, did not reply to a message.
Metro Edge and Nu Stream are thought to have been set up around 2014, and staffed by agents once affiliated with New Coast Realty.
Changes this month to the council’s website also allow the public to search and see the nearly 20 conditions placed on the licence of Metro Edge Realtor Wendy Yang, including one that forbids her from referring any clients to or providing “contact information for (her husband and RBC Royal Bank of Canada mortgage adviser) Jian Robert Sun for the purpose of obtaining financing or mortgage advice or services.”