A British Columbia real estate agent has been suspended for six months for misconduct after admitting to forging signatures on key documents in a Richmond land assembly deal.
The BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) announced last week that Ramandeep Singh Kooner and his personal real estate corporation, Raman Kooner Personal Real Estate Corporation (RK PREC), have been penalized for professional misconduct. The misconduct involved submitting forged signatures on Letters of Authorization on behalf of two sellers, which were submitted to the City of Richmond without the homeowners’ consent.
“Licensees have a duty to act honestly, with reasonable care and skill,” said Raheel Humayun, BCFSA’s director of investigations. “These actions undermine the integrity of the real estate industry and constitute wrongful or deceptive dealing.”
Details of the Incident and Impact on Property Owners
The incident occurred on August 21, 2015, when three neighbouring property owners in Richmond signed a Contract of Purchase and Sale with a buyer, contingent upon city approval of a land assembly. Kooner, who later joined the transaction, assisted a group of assignees in taking over the contract for the three properties. On September 22, 2015, he handed over the City’s Letters of Authorization to a colleague at Seafair Realty, requesting that they be signed by the property owners.
However, two of the property owners did not sign the letters. When they visited Richmond City Hall to inquire about the risks of signing, they discovered the letters had already been submitted, purportedly bearing their signatures. The City subsequently cancelled the rezoning application, and the buyer chose not to complete the purchase agreements.
Kooner later admitted to the BCFSA that he had forged the signatures, claiming he had received verbal consent from one of the property owners to sign on behalf of all the sellers. However, he did not verify this directly with the other owners.
Maintaining Integrity in the Real Estate Profession
As part of the disciplinary action, Kooner and RK PREC were ordered to pay a $10,000 penalty and $5,000 in enforcement expenses. The BCFSA noted that the penalties were the maximum allowed at the time of the misconduct. In 2016, the maximum penalty for such infractions was increased to $250,000 per violation to deter similar conduct.
The suspension highlights the importance of ethical conduct in the real estate profession, with the BCFSA reiterating its commitment to maintaining public trust in the sector.
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