Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
B.C.’s financial services regulator has fined a former Vancouver Island real estate agent $66,500 after she failed to disclose that a property she sold was listed as archaeologically significant.
Judy Bood, who has since retired, was issued the fine after she helped sell a property on the coast of Vancouver Island for $300,000 in 2018.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Bood was specifically instructed by her client to not disclose that the property was on an archaeological site.
Any property protected under B.C.’s Heritage Conservation Act cannot be significantly altered without proper permits issued by the Archaeology Branch or the appropriate minister.
In B.C., any property protected by the Heritage Conservation Act cannot be significantly modified without the appropriate permits. (Jane Robertson/CBC)
After the property was sold, the decision states that the buyer was clearing trees and brush, when they were informed that the property was protected and could not be further developed.
“The [buyer] ultimately sold the [property] for $200,000 as they could not develop on the land as they had initially planned due to the archaeological site … sustaining a loss of approximately $110,000 including costs,” the decision reads.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Bood was told by her client not to disclose the archaeological significance of the property. (David Horemans/CBC)
In issuing the fine, a B.C. Financial Services Authority hearing officer said that the regulator had a need to ensure public confidence in the real estate industry and there was “significant misconduct” on Bood’s part.
“Licensees are expected to follow and uphold the law, and the public needs to know that when they do not, the superintendent will ensure that they are held to account,” the decision reads.
Seller was ‘argumentative and difficult,’ former agent says
According to the decision, Bood had listed the property once before it was sold, and would verbally tell prospective buyers that it was archaeologically significant.
“The seller would always tell her that he did not feel that the archaeological site on the [property] needed to be disclosed,” the decision reads.
“Ms. Bood described the seller as having been very argumentative and difficult.”
But in the case of the eventual $300,000 sale, her client told her that the buyer was a “sophisticated party and developer” who worked in the area and knew the rules — which Bood indicated she thought was a reasonable argument.
The regulator found that, even if Bood had believed the buyer knew the rules, she was still obligated to disclose the property was archaeologically significant.
“The only reasonable conclusion, in my view, is that there was a concern on the part of both Ms. Bood and her client that the disclosure may cause a problem with respect to the offer on the [property], and that as a result a decision was made not to disclose,” the decision reads.
The regulator who ruled on Bood’s case found she had committed significant professional misconduct. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)
Bood told the regulator that there were significant mitigating factors in her case, including that she had serious health problems that eventually led her to retire.
“Ms. Bood indicated that she was not attempting to trivialize her error in this case, but that it was a mistake that she had made during a difficult time in her life, and one that there was no risk of her ever making again,” the decision reads.
Ultimately, however, the regulator found that there was nothing in Bood’s evidence to suggest that her health condition meant she wasn’t able to disclose the information.
“Ms. Bood had, despite her health condition, been disclosing the existence of the archaeological site to other buyers,” the decision reads.
It said that the $110,000 financial loss sustained by the eventual buyer was an aggravating factor that led to the disciplinary outcome.
B.C.’s Heritage Conservation Act has been in the news this week, with Forests Minister Ravi Parmar saying the province is postponing a reform of the act to further consult with First Nations, industry groups and municipalities.