REAL ESTATE COUNCIL OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
In the matter of the Real Estate Act
R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 397 As Amended
AND in the matter of a Disciplinary Hearing held pursuant to Section 31 of the Real Estate Act
Respondent: BELLA DANIELS
File: 4-04, 85-04, 207-03, 232-03
Date of Hearing: June 12-16, 2006 and November 28, 2006
Date of Council Decision: November 28, 2006
Complaint:
Contravention of section 31(1)(c) and section 9.12 of Regulation 75/61 under the Real Estate Act/misconduct, negligence and incompetence.
Issue:
Bella Daniels, representative, while licensed with Masters Realty (2000) Inc. dba Re/Max Masters Realty (a) misconducted herself within the meaning of section 31(1)(c) of the Real Estate Act in that she (i) misrepresented to another licensee that there was an accepted offer on a unit to be sold which she knew was untrue, (ii) permitted an unlicensed assistant to perform activities on her behalf for which a licence was required; (b) was negligent within the meaning of section 9.12 of Regulation 75/61 under the Real Estate Act in that she (i) failed to identify an unlicensed assistant in her advertisements contrary to the Council guidelines; (ii) failed to deliver a Contract of Purchase and Sale and Notice and Disclosure to her agent in a timely manner; (c) was incompetent within the meaning of section 9.12 of Regulation 75/61 under the Real Estate Act in that she (i) distributed advertising to the public in which she published the name of the owner of the units to be sold without the consent of the owner; (ii) acted as a limited dual agent in two transactions in which she was the buyer without withdrawing as the agent for the sellers and without ensuring that the sellers were afforded an opportunity to seek independent legal advice or advice from another agent.
Penalty:
Bella Daniels ’s licence was suspended for seventy (70) days from August 22, 2007 to October 30, 2007 (inclusive) for misconduct, negligence and incompetence as described above. In addition, as a condition of continued licensing, she was required to successfully complete the disciplinary education assignments applicable to Chapter 2 (Real Estate Services Act), Chapter 12 (The Law of Agency) of the Real Estate Trading Services Licensing Course, and to enroll in and attend the first available CPE courses “What Brokerages and Realtors Need to Know About Agency ”, “Legal Update ”, “Professionalism it Pays! Be Safe or Be Sued ” and “Applied Ethics in Real Estate ” and to pay enforcement expenses to the Council in the amount of $15,000.00.
This decision was appealed to the Financial Services Tribunal by Ms. Daniels and on July 19, 2007 the appeal was dismissed with costs of the appeal being awarded to the Real Estate Council and the Financial Services Tribunal in the amount of $2,500.00 each.
P: Aug 8, 2007 R: Aug 8, 2012