A Manitoba real estate broker could permanently lose his licence after was accused of fraudulently taking thousands of dollars from prospective tenants and spending it on personal items.
The Manitoba Securities Commission has set a date for September to hear allegations against Jose Antonio Pereira.
According to a statement of allegations, Pereira entered into an agreement in March or April of 2018 with the owner of a property at the corner of Munroe Avenue and Panet Road in Winnipeg, who wanted to develop a commercial property and lease it to medical professionals.
The allegations have not been proven.
Pereira agreed to find potential tenants and set up a sign advertising the property, the statement said, but no listing agreement was signed — a violation of the Real Estate Brokers Act of Manitoba.
In April 2018, two people identified as K.A. and F.T. met with Pereira at his Re/Max Associates office and signed a lease. They each gave Pereira a deposit of $1,500 plus GST, which Pereira said was refundable, the statement said.
Rather than going to Pereira’s broker, as required by law, the money is alleged to have gone straight into Pereira’s personal bank account. Bank records show the money was spent on personal expenses, according to the statement.
In September 2018, the securities commission barred Pereira from acting as a real estate broker for three years, after he failed to return a $20,000 deposit to a woman and her husband, which had been given to him in order to purchase a house.
Pereira had been suspended by the commission once before, in June 2001, for a period of 15 months.
In March 2019, K.A. learned that the owner, identified as M.T., was no longer listing the property with Pereira and Re/Max Associates. K.A. asked Pereira to return the deposit, but Pereira told him the money was non-refundable and had been used for expenses.
The statement quotes a message sent from Pereira to K.A., saying that Pereira would soon be moving to Portugal permanently.
“I hope there is no problems going forward,” the statement quotes Pereira as saying. “I have lots of video on everyone that works great for these type of situation , video that k ow one wants shared I am sure, I want no problems , stay well our secrets our safe , also goes for M.T. !”
A hearing of the allegations is set for Sept. 16. Staff at the securities commission have requested that the commission order a refund of $1,500 to both K.A. and F.T.
They also recommended that Pereira’s registration under the act be suspended or cancelled, and that he be ordered to pay all costs.
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.
