A Metro Vancouver realtor has had his licence suspended for one year for ties to an unlicensed brokerage based in China – a disciplinary action that is being called a warning to other real estate agents.
Court documents showed Richmond realtor Alban Wang sold 17 homes across Metro Vancouver through the Shanghai-based website vanfun.com, paying more than $200,000 of his commission sales to the site’s operator for client referrals.
The website vanfun.com takes MLS listings reserved for realtors and posts them online for their clients to view up to 48 hours before the general public can see them.
The information can only be accessed by industry insiders like Wang. He declined to discuss the matter with CTV News.
“The website was getting that information somehow,” said Dan Morrison, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. “What [Wang] was doing is wrong. And certainly what that website is doing was very wrong.”
The Real Estate Council of BC stripped Wang of his licence for one year, and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine. But taking action against sites like vanfun.com isn’t as easy.
“When it's outside the country, it's very hard to track down,” said Morrison. “We called this company, and two days later the phone line was disconnected. They knew they were doing something wrong.”
Wang’s suspension went into effect Wednesday.
Industry experts are advising buyers and sellers in Metro Vancouver to use licensed realtors – and steer clear of unlicensed websites.
“Make sure you’re working with a realtor,” said Morrison. “It breaks my heart when I find out people are not working with a realtor and not getting this information properly. The system is set up and designed to protect them.”
With files from CTV Vancouver’s Sarah MacDonald
