B.C. mortgage broker fined $50K, suspended 3 months for 'misleading' applications

A for sale sign is seen outside a home in East Vancouver on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. (CTV)

A B.C. mortgage broker has agreed to pay more than $50,000 to a professional regulator after admitting to submitting "misleading" applications to lenders.

In a consent agreement posted on the BC Financial Services Authority website last week, Hou Yin "Jeffrey" Ho admitted to conducting mortgage business "in a manner prejudicial to the public interest." 

Seven instances of the misconduct occurred between September 2014 and April 2015, while the rest occurred in 2017, according to the document.

In two of the early cases, Ho or his assistant submitted applications that "failed to state that the borrowers were seeking concurrent financing for the potential purchase of other properties," the consent agreement says.

The other five early cases had the same problem, according to the agreement, but they also "stated that the properties were owner-occupied when Mr. Ho ought to have known that the properties would be converted into rental properties if the potential purchase of the other property completed."

The 2017 cases were prepared by Ho's assistant. In those instances, Ho's misconduct stemmed from his failure to exercise "proper due diligence" in supervising his assistant.

The consent agreement indicates Ho's assistant submitted three false tenancy agreements, two of which were signed by the borrower, and presented them to lenders as if they were genuine.

The assistant also failed to include information about a borrower seeking concurrent financing for a different purchase, and stated two different monthly rental income totals for the same suite, according to the document.

As punishment for his misconduct, Ho agreed to pay the BCFSA a $50,000 administrative penalty, plus $5,000 in partial investigation costs.

He also agreed to a three-month suspension of his registration under the provincial Mortgage Brokers Act.