‘False and misleading’ advertising leads to penalties for 4 B.C. Realtors, regulator says

A real estate sign is pictured in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, June, 12, 2018. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press)

Four B.C. Realtors have been ordered to pay a combined $20,250 after publishing “false and misleading ads and statements” online, according to a provincial regulator.

The B.C. Financial Services Authority shared details of the cases in a news release Wednesday, describing the administrative penalties as “recently issued.”

According to documents published on the BCFSA website, all four of the penalties were issued late last year. The documents themselves were published in January and February.

The four Realtors – Craig Veroni, Derek Gillette, Sarmad Mehrbod and Xin Bo (Angela) Guo – each failed to follow the provincial Real Estate Services Act’s advertising rules, which require ads to be “current, accurate and verifiable,” according to the BCFSA.

Personal real estate corporations owned by Veroni and Mehrbod were also penalized.

Veroni, Mehrbod and Guo each asked the BCFSA to reconsider the penalties against them, and the regulator upheld the fines in a reconsideration decision. No reconsideration decision is available online for Gillette.

According to the reconsideration decision issued against them on Nov. 12 and published online Jan. 9, Craig Veroni and Craig Veroni PREC were ordered to pay a $6,250 administrative penalty. Included in that total was 13 days’ worth of daily $250 fines for the time it took him to fix some of his advertising.

“Veroni failed to indicate his brokerage’s name on his Instagram and Facebook pages, failed to indicate his personal real estate corporation’s licensee name on his LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pages and his website; and failed to provide names of awards he has won while stating that he is an ‘Award Winning Realtor’ on his Instagram and X accounts and an ‘Award Winning Realtor for over 14 years’ on his website,” the BCFSA said in its release.

Sarmad Mehrbod and Sam Mehrbod PREC were ordered to pay $6,000 in the reconsideration decision against them, which was issued Dec. 9 and published online Feb. 26.

Mehrbod’s misleading statements posted on his website and social media included “Top 1% REALTOR in Van” and “REBGV Medallion Club,” without any explanatory or qualifying information. He also made references to being part of a team, but he was not registered with a team, according to the BCFSA.

Guo’s reconsideration decision was issued Nov. 22 and published online Jan. 9. In it, she was ordered to pay a $4,000 administrative penalty for misleading statements on her social media accounts and website.

“Although the statements were published by staff of the licensee’s brokerage, the licensee was found to be responsible for the advertising, and no qualifying information was provided on statements that Guo was a ‘Top 1% President Club Member’ and in the ‘2017 President’s Club,‘” the BCFSA news release reads.

Finally, the notice of administrative penalty against Gillette was issued Nov. 29 and published online Feb. 5. It includes a $4,000 fine for “a series of misleading statements on his website and social media,” which he failed to qualify with additional information.

Those statements included:

• “#1 sales-30 years”
• “#1 Nanaimo Realtor 2015-2023″
• “Top 100 Realtors in Canada-REP magazine”
• “#1 Transactions in BC”
• “Ranked #1 in BC”
• “#36 Worldwide Teams for Re/Max International”
• “Top 10 commission paid in Canada”
• And “Business Excellence Award for Vancouver Island.”

“These deceptive actions show a disregard for truth in advertising,” said Jon Vandall, senior vice-president of compliance and enforcement for the BCFSA, in the release.

“When consumers seek a real estate professional to help them buy or sell their home, they deserve to know a licensee’s real history and credentials. When licensees claim to be something they are not, consumers and other licensees suffer. BCFSA is here to inform and protect consumers and provide a level playing field in B.C. real estate.”

The regulator says it has developed advertising guidelines for real estate professionals, as well as a fact sheet “to help consumers understand what to look for in a real estate licensee’s social media and websites.”