Misleading Advertising Does Not Pay

BCFSA is seeing an increase in misleading advertising that include unsubstantiated claims like “Ranked #1 in BC” and “Top 1% REALTOR in Van.” The Real Estate Services Act (“RESA”) requires that advertising be current, accurate, and verifiable. So, we thought it would help to share penalties that licensees must pay when they violate advertising rules in B.C.

The more harm to consumers, the larger the fine

Did you know that if a licensee breaches B.C. real estate advertising rules, they can receive an administrative penalty of up to $100,000? If BCFSA proceeds to a formal Notice of Discipline Hearing, the licensee can face more fines up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations.

Four recent penalties for advertising rules breaches

• Craig Veroni and Craig Veroni Personal Real Estate Corporation were ordered to pay a $6,250 administrative penalty which included an additional $3,250 for the 13 days which he took to fix some of his advertising. Veroni failed to indicate his brokerage’s name on his Instagram and Facebook pages, failed to indicate his personal real estate corporation’s licensee name on his LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pages and his website; and failed to provide names of awards he has won while stating that he is an “Award Winning Realtor” on his Instagram and X accounts and an “Award Winning Realtor for over 14 years” on his website. Read the Craig Veroni decision.

• Derek Gillette has been ordered to pay $4,000 for a series of misleading statements on his website and social media. He failed to qualify the following statements with particulars: “#1 sales-30years,” “#1 Nanaimo Realtor 2015-2023,“ Top 100 Realtors in Canada-REP magazine,” “#1 Transactions in BC,” “Ranked #1 in BC,” “#36 Worldwide Teams for Re/Max International,” “Top 10 commission paid in Canada,” and “Business Excellence Award for Vancouver Island.” Read the Derek Gillette decision.

• Sarmad Mehrbod and Sam Mehrbod Personal Real Estate Corporation have been ordered to pay $6,000 for misleading statements on social media and his website. The statements included “Top 1% REALTOR in Van” and “REBGV Medallion Club” without any explanatory qualifying information. Mehrbod also made references to being part of a team when he was not registered with a team. Read the Sarmad Mehrbod decision.

• Xin Bo (Angela) Guo has been ordered to pay $4,000 for misleading statements on her social media and website. Although the statements were published by staff of the licensee’s brokerage, the licensee was found to be responsible for the advertising, and no qualifying information was provided on statements that Guo was a “Top 1% President Club Member” and in the “2017 President’s Club.” Read the Angela Guo decision.

Keep your ads and website compliant

Review your real estate ads, listings, social media, and website to make sure you’re following B.C. advertising rules. 

You can check out BCFSA’s Advertising Guidelines, and read all recent disciplinary actions on our website at Real Estate Decisions | BCFSA.