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This article was published 20/01/2020 (937 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Winnipeg real estate broker has had his licence suspended for a year and ordered to pay close to $15,000 in costs after he was found to have inappropriately marketed properties that were owned by his wife without providing full disclosure as well as providing misleading information on at least one of the properties.
In 2016 and 2017 the broker, Daryl Scott Newis, was working with Cornerstone Real Estate and at the end of 2019 he was working with Century 21 Carrie Realty Ltd.
In a hearing to address the allegation against him held in late November, the Manitoba Securities Commission determined that it was in the public’s best interest to suspend Newis’s registration for 12 months from the date of the ruling and ordered him to pay costs of $14,542.92. As well, Newis will have to retake the Manitoba Real Estate Salespersons course and be under probation for six months if he does become re-registered and his subsequent new employer will be required to file monthly written reports.
In addition to not properly disclosing the fact that the vendor was his wife in the sale of three Winnipeg properties he also misrepresented the state of repair of some of the infrastructure in one of the homes and in all three he did not have a proper listing agreement prior to the sale of the properties.
In one case the commission found that he doctored correspondence with one of the purchasers after the purchaser had signed a disclosure letter.
One month after the purchase of the house in question Newis wrote a handwritten letter saying that he was “related” to the vendor of the home. It was signed by the Newis and the purchaser, but subsequent to the purchaser’s signing the letter Newis inserted the words “and the vendors spouse.”
In what seems like the most blatant mis-representation of the three transactions cited in the commission’s allegations and order, Newis filed a description of one of the homes on the Multiple Listing Service stating the house, which was being acquired as a revenue property, had “2 newer furnaces, 2 newer hot water tanks… a newer roof.”
But in the months following the purchase of the property the new owner came to realize the furnaces, water heaters and roof were not as advertised in the MLS.
In its statement of allegations the commission found that about eight months after purchasing the property a tenant complained about a leaky roof. The owner hired a roofing company to investigate and found sections of the roof which did not have any shingles, and that other remedial work would have to be done to properly repair it.
The owner received quotes for the repairs that ranged from $5,250 to $6,500.
As for the furnaces and hot water tanks, they, too, were determined to be far from new.
One furnace was 23 years old and was shut down by an inspector after a crack was found and the second furnace was 21 years old and was in desperate need of cleaning. An inspector would not guarantee it would work after being cleaned. One hot water tanks was 21 years old. The second one was only five years old, but it was not installed to code. The new owner of the home incurred replacement and repair costs of about $8,701.00 for the furnaces and water heaters.
On another of the properties in question the new owner was told by his real estate agent that the vendor was Newis’s ex-wife when in fact they were currently married. About a year after that transaction closed Newis requested that the new owners sign a disclosure document indicating that he was aware that Newis’ had an interest in the property.
On the third property Newis did make a disclosure statement indicating an interest in the property but not that the vendor was his wife.
Martin Cash
Reporter
Martin Cash has been writing a column and business news at the Free Press since 1989. Over those years he’s written through a number of business cycles and the rise and fall (and rise) in fortunes of many local businesses.
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