Mortgage Broker

CMB MAGAZINE cmba-achc.ca winter 2017 | 59 On January 20, 2015, the person claiming to be Mr. R provided an affidavit, attaching the photograph presented for identification purposes. e person was permitted to write the examination and passed it. On February 12, 2016, he and his personal real estate corporation obtained licensing to provide real estate trading services. On April 4, 2016, "Mr. A" became registered as a submortgage broker under the British Columbia Mortgage Brokers Act (MBA). On April 15, 2016, the Real Estate Council of British Columbia (Council) advised the Registrar that on January 20, 2016, Mr. A may have written the real estate trading examination in place of Mr. R. On April 20, 2016, Council suspended the real estate trading licences of Mr. R and his corporation. REGISTRAR'S INVESTIGATION e Registrar's staff gathered photographs from the mortgage broker and real estate trader courses. e staff also gathered photographs from social media, including from Mr. R's website. Aer reviewing all of the photographs, staff formed the opinion that the photographs submitted for purposes of the real estate trader examination were of Mr. A, not of Mr. R. e Council advised that they conducted social-media searches and found that Mr. A and Mr. R were friends on a social-media website. e database for the studio at which the passport-sized photograph was taken indicated that it was commissioned by a person with the same last name as Mr. A, albeit spelled slightly differently; the telephone number for the person in the photograph was that of Mr. A. Mr. A and Mr. R appeared to be professionally associated, in that Mr. R's real estate website listed Mr. A's property for sale and referred to Mr. A as a mortgage specialist. On April 15, 2016, Mr. R admitted to the Council that he did not write the real estate trading examination and that someone else had written it for him. OUTCOME e Registrar concluded that Mr. A was unsuitable for registration as a submortgage broker and the registration was objectionable because: n Mr. A wrote the examination for Mr. R., who was subsequently licensed by the Council to provide real estate services; n Mr. A swore a false affidavit attesting that he was Mr. R; and n Mr. A applied for registration in the real estate trading course on behalf of Mr. R. is conduct undermined the primary purpose of the MBA, which is to protect the public and the maintenance of public confidence in the mortgage industry. Mr. A lacked the qualities needed for a person to be suitable for registration: honesty, reliability, integrity and professionalism. Mr. A's conduct demonstrated a complete disregard for regulatory authority, and showed a willingness to deceive a regulator and the public as to the qualifications of a licensee. On April 27, 2016, the Registrar suspended Mr. A's registration. On December 16, 2016, the matter was brought to conclusion by Mr. A consenting to his registration being cancelled and to never again apply for registration. TAKEAWAYS A person who either writes a qualification examination for another person or allows someone else to write a qualification examination for him or her risks not being permitted to obtain or maintain registration as a mortgage broker. e prohibition would likely be for a very long time and could be forever. Of note is that this case involved an examination to be written in person. It could be that the breach of trust, and lack of honesty and integrity – especially on the part of an already registered mortgage broker – is that much greater in circumstances where the examination is administered online. To put it in the simplest of language: Do not write an examination for someone else and do not allow someone else to write one for you. In either circumstance, you could find yourself unable to carry on as a mortgage broker.

• Cover