B.C. Realtor fined for loaning clients money to buy property he was selling

A file image of a house for sale sign. (Source: Getty Images)

A B.C. Realtor who loaned his clients the money they needed to buy a property he was selling committed misconduct and has been fined $15,000, according to the professional regulator.

Pardeep Singh Sandhu was found to have contravened three of the province’s Real Estate Services Rules by lending the would-be buyers $55,000 they needed to secure a mortgage to buy an Abbotsford property, according to a notice from the Superintendent of Real Estate of the BC Financial Services Authority.

Sandhu was fined $5,000 because he did not take “reasonable steps” to avoid a conflict of interest when he provided the money to “clients who were having financial difficulties completing the purchase,” the notice said.

“You obtained commission from the subject transaction, and the loan you gave changed both the nature and degree of your interest in ensuring that the transaction would complete,” the notice continued.

He was fined an additional $5,000 for failing to “promptly and fully” disclose the conflict of interest arising from the loan and the final $5,000 for failing to advise his clients to seek independent advice on the loan and the ensuing conflict, the superintendent wrote.