Consent Order

A discipline committee of the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (the “Council”) accepted the Consent Order Proposal submitted by Tim Seo (“Mr. Seo”) on his own behalf, and on behalf of Tim Seo Personal Real Estate Corporation (“Seo Personal Real Estate Corporation”), and found that Mr. Seo and Seo Personal Real Estate Corporation committed professional misconduct when they:

1. entered into two separate relationships with the sellers of a property (the "Sellers") without fully explaining the nature of the representation being provided;
2. entered into a relationship with the buyer of the property (the "Buyer") without fully disclosing the nature of the representation being provided when they prepared, presented and provided advice to the Buyer on an offer dated June 12, 2017 that stated the Sellers and the Buyer had no agency relationship in circumstances where they were representing both the Sellers and the Buyer;
3. entered into a commission agreement with the Seller, dated June 22, 2017, that was non-compliant in that it was not signed by an authorized signatory of the brokerage and did not clearly state all terms and conditions of the agreement, the duration of the agreement, a general description of services to be provided or contain a provision respecting the use and disclosure of personal information, and failed to disclose this remuneration arrangement to the Buyer;
4. failed to provide the Buyer with the applicable lease upon request, which was a subject of the Contract of Purchase and Sale for Business Assets dated June 12, 2017, and instead provided the Buyer with a lease assignment attaching a lease which was not fully executed and did not contain a demolition clause, when they knew or ought to have known that the applicable lease contained a demolition clause as they had been a witness to that lease for the Sellers;
5. failed to advise the Buyer to seek independent professional advice concerning the potential development of the site, and made representations to the Buyer that there was no scheduled demolition when they knew or ought to have known that an application for development of the site had been made and that there was a demolition clause in the lease, and knew that the owner may want to develop the property;
6. ​​​​​​​acted in a conflict of interest; and
7. ​​​​​​​failed to keep their managing broker informed of the real estate services being provided, and other activities being performed, on behalf of the brokerage.

Results

A discipline committee of the Council has ordered, and Mr. Seo and Seo Personal Real Estate Corporation have agreed to, the following penalties:

1. a suspension of 4 months (from May 5, 2021 to September 5, 2021, inclusive);
2. being prohibited from acting as an unlicensed assistant during the licence suspension period;
3. having enhanced supervision by a managing broker for at least 2 years following the end of the licence suspension period;
4. a discipline penalty of $20,000; and
5. enforcement expenses of $1,500.