A former South Surrey real estate broker will pay a series of fines and be prohibited from applying for a licence for 25 years after she admitted to professional misconduct under the Real Estate Services Act.
Rupinder Dawodharry, who was the sole managing broker and director of the now defunct 8th Avenue Elite Realty, agreed to pay penalties and fines up to $30,000 after she misappropriated more than $168,000 in deposits related to nine property sales from 2014-2015.
The 8th Avenue Elite Realty brokerage, which was operating out of Morgan Creek Corporate Centre (210-15252 32 Ave.), had its license suspended in 2014 after failing to account for monies entrusted to them by clients.
Marilee Peters, communications officer for Real Estate Council of B.C., told Peace Arch News in 2014 that “slightly less than 70” real estate agents were licensed under 8th Avenue. Disciplinary steps did not prevent those agents from transferring their licence to another brokerage.
The Real Estate Council of B.C. posted Dawodharry’s consent order proposal to its website July 25. Dawodharry agreed to and signed the order – which outlined that she “misappropriated, wrongfully converted and/or intentionally failed to pay over or account to clients for monies provided to the brokerage” – May 10 of this year.
“When deposits were made to the 8th Avenue Elite trust fund account, the funds were commingled with any other funds in that account. The monies therein were used for a variety of purposes, unrelated to the transactions in relation to which the deposits were provided by the clients,” read the agreed statement of facts.
Dawodharry agreed to pay a $10,000 discipline penalty to the Real Estate Council of BC; pay $20,000 of enforcement expenses to the council; she must successfully complete, at her own expense, an Ethics in Business Practice course, and will be prohibited from applying for a license for 25 years.
