The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has dismissed an appeal from St. John’s city councillor Debbie Hanlon’s real estate agency relating to almost $10,000 in unpaid commission.
In its decision released Monday, the Supreme Court upheld a provincial court decision from December 15, 2020 that found Hanlon’s company was on the hook to pay after breaching a contract for the payment of real estate commissions.
Hanlon filed the appeal arguing that the trial judge hadn’t applied the law correctly, and that the respondent’s claim was prohibited under the province’s Real Estate Trading Act. The act only allows agents to get commission if they were licensed when services were rendered.
According to the Supreme Court decision, an agreement was made in June 2019 between Hanlon and a now retired real estate agent for the agent to transfer her current and future real estate listings to Hanlon, who would then give 90 per cent of the commission to the agent if the properties were to sell.
Hanlon would keep the other 10 per cent of the commission and receive $200 a month from the agent, who would be required to pay her own realtor fees. The agent’s licence was cancelled effective September 6, 2019.
Among the properties transferred to Hanlon was a house in Paradise, which was listed for sale at a price of $455,000 in August 2019. When the home sold for $365,000 in April 2020, Hanlon refused to pay the other agent the money owed to her under their agreement.
The agent took Hanlon to court to get the money, with the trial judge finding Hanlon liable to pay a total of $9,219.15.
The judge found Hanlon, seen here in front of her office, had tried to unilaterally change a deal with another real estate agent, and had declared the agreement illegal altogether when that agent disagreed. (Katie Breen/CBC)
In his 2020 decision, the trial judge found that Hanlon’s testimony during the provincial court trial showed “somewhat gratuitous” animosity toward the other real estate agent.
The judge found Hanlon tried to unilaterally change the agreement to a 50/50 split of the commission, but when the other real estate agent disagreed with the changes, Hanlon claimed the agreement was illegal and that the agent shouldn’t get any money at all.
Monday’s Supreme Court decision found no error in the trial judge’s application of the law and dismissed the appeal.
Hanlon isn’t the only St. John’s city councillor that’s garnered attention for their real estate work, however.
Coun. Ron Ellsworth, who is also a real estate agent, created some controversy over an advertisement posted on Facebook in November that said municipal rezoning could improve the value of a property he is selling.
Memorial University political scientist Russell Williams said the ad was a conflict of interest because it appears to mix his private interest as a real estate agent with his public responsibilities as a city councillor.
Ellsworth declined requests for an interview but emailed a statement saying he’s done nothing that breaks the city’s rules.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
