Regina realtor fined for criticizing colleague on social media after sale falls through

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A Regina realtor has agreed to pay a hefty fine after inadvertently calling out a fellow agent on social media after a sale fell through.

The incident involved a home Kevin Peter listed for sale in May 2022, according to a Saskatchewan Real Estate Commission decision issued earlier this month.

A buyer who had made an offer on the home expressed concern about the condition of the home's furnace following a walkthrough by a home inspector.

The buyer's real estate agent told Peter that they wanted the issue corrected and requested the relevant invoices as proof, the decision said.

"If this deal doesn’t go through your client will have to change the PCDS (Property Condition Disclosure Statement) stating the furnace problem," the buyer's realtor warned in a text message to Peter.

A plumber Peter has a longstanding relationship with was brought in by the seller, based on Peter's advice.

"He found the furnace was very clean and said that it checked out," Peter told the commission in his accepted statement of facts.

As requested, Peter sent an invoice and the plumber's comments to the buyer's agent.

The decision says Peter heard nothing back until he received a "fall through" notice only stating the buyer's "conditions have not been satisfied."

"With no explanation for the fall through and no other communication, Mr. Peter was not happy with the fact that [the buyer's agent] did not contact him to provide an explanation of the buyer’s decision," the decision said.

Frustrated by the lack of communication, Peter — who the decision says is self-admittedly not very "computer literate" — took to Facebook, making a public post that he thought was private.

In the post, which Peter edited multiple times, eventually "checking in" at the other realtor's profile, he called the buyer's realtor "inexperienced", said the home inspector "lacked qualification" and alleged the buyer was "unqualified."

While the post garnered six reactions, a share and picked up two comments along the way, Peter wasn't fully aware of its public nature until he was called by his broker "saying that the post would likely be construed as having a negative edge and should be removed or edited."

However, due to his lack of tech-savviness, Peter had "difficulties" when it came to taking the post down, the decision states.

Due to the breach of a regulatory bylaw that forbids a realtor from publicly discrediting a competitor, the commission issued a $4,000 fine — which Peter agreed to pay.