The NDP is asking the Vancouver Police Department to investigate the actions of New Coast Realty, a Vancouver-area brokerage accused of violating provincial real estate regulations.
“There is no other agency or remedy available to investigate or prosecute this alleged fraud,” wrote David Eby, MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey and NDP housing critic, in a letter to VPD Chief Adam Palmer.
“Unfortunately, civil litigation is not available for any defrauded parties. Due to the nature of the frauds alleged, if New Coast clients were fraudulently deceived by their realtors…those clients are unlikely to know that they have been the victims of fraud.”
An article published last weekend by The Globe and Mail alleged that Ze Yu Wu, the owner of New Coast Realty, was coaching employees to try and get clients to sell their home for below market value – and then be resold to other New Coast Realty clients.
Following the story, the The Real Estate Council of British Columbia issued new conditions to New Coast Realty, including the appointment of a managing broker approved by the council to conduct all training sessions and licensee supervision.
READ MORE: B.C. real estate firm faces licence conditions
But the NDP says the new regulations don’t go far enough, and spent much of question period on Wednesday demanding the provincial government take further action.
“In light of the serious allegations, will the premier write to the Vancouver police and ask them to institute an investigation into the practices there, so we can protect other realtors in this province?” asked NDP leader John Horgan.
Premier Christy Clark said the province was awaiting a long-anticipated independent advisory group’s probe into standards of conduct for real estate licensees, and would take further action if they thought the report’s recommendations didn’t go far enough.
“We need to make sure that the changes we make, while they are urgent and are being dealt with very quickly, need to be done well,” said Clark.
“This is not an NDP budget, we are not doing it on the back of a napkin.”
Eby argued that “while the premier has been waiting, while the premier has been watching, not a single rule has been changed” to how the real estate industry in British Columbia is regulated.
Not so, argued Clark.
“We are also working with the City of Vancouver and other governments across the region to deal with issues where we can, on occupancy — nobody wants to live in a hollowed-out neighbourhood — and on issues of speculation, to see what we can do around that, and on density.”
Comments