Consent Order

A discipline committee of the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (the "Council") accepted the Consent Order Proposal submitted by Dale Richard Shortt and found that Mr. Shortt committed professional misconduct when he:

1. signed or affixed his estranged spouse's signature to a multiple listing contract dated May 6, 2013 without her knowledge or consent;
2. signed or affixed his estranged spouse's signature to an Irrevocable Direction to Pay document dated January 2, 2014 without her knowledge or consent;
3. while acting as limited dual agent for the purchase and sale of properties located at XXX Selby Street and XXX Fitzwilliam Street, in Nanaimo, BC, pursuant to contracts for purchase and sale dated May 12, 2014, took a $20,000 loan from his client, the seller, and later restructured this loan as a commission advance, and:
   1. the $20,000 payment was made by way of a certified cheque made out in Mr. Shortt's name rather than being made through his brokerage;
   2. he failed to advise his brokerage of the $20,000 loan, or the restructuring the loan as a commission advance; and
   3. he failed to deliver the $20,000 cheque to his brokerage and deposit it into the brokerage trust account, and instead reduced the commission owing by $20,000;
   4. he provided property management services to a client when he was not licensed to provide property management services;
   5. he provided property management services to a client outside of his brokerage;
   6. he received remuneration by way of a cheque dated November 1, 2015 for providing property management services outside of his brokerage;
   7. he failed to keep his managing broker informed of real estate services he was providing; and
   8. when acting as listing agent in relation to properties located at XXX Nicol Street, Nanaimo, BC (the "Nicol Property") and XX Robarts Street, Nanaimo, BC (the "Robarts Property") he submitted to his brokerage an unconditional release form for the Robarts Property listing signed by the owner of the Nicol Property instead of by the owner of the Robarts Property.

Results

A discipline committee of the Council has ordered, and Mr. Shortt has agreed to, the following penalties:

1. a suspension of six (6) months from March 11, 2020 to September 10, 2020, inclusive
2. a discipline penalty of $5,000.00;
3. enforcement expenses of $6,000.00;
4. successful completion of the Real Estate Trading Services Remedial Education Course; and
5. successful completion of the REIC 2600 Ethics in Business Practice Course