A lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court alleges that 60 property owners in Richmond fell victim to a shadow-flipping scam by a local realtor and his brokerage firm.
The suit, filed by brothers Kenneth and Jim Davis, states that in November 2010 the two men received a flyer at their mother’s residence on Jesmond Avenue from someone named Sunny stating that Sunny would be interested in buying the property.
The brothers, who were executors of their mother’s estate, phoned the number on the flyer and spoke to a man who identified himself as Sunny and spoke good English, the suit states.
They say they invited Sunny to their home, but the man who arrived didn’t speak English and brought along a realtor, a man named Alban Wang, to act as a translator.
The brothers ultimately accepted an offer for $860,000 and executed the contract of purchase and sale on Dec. 10, 2010, the writ states.
But in early February 2011, they learned through phone calls from other realtors that the property had been re-listed for sale presumably under an assignment clause as a shadow flip, according to the suit.
Shadow-flipping is a controversial practice in which a realtor or investor flips a property numerous times before a sale is closed, boosting the price as they go. In March, Premier Christy Clark vowed to crack down on the practice.
“None of the defendants advised the plaintiffs that the property would be immediately flipped for sale at a much higher purchase price,” says the Davis suit. Davis believes their home may have been sold again for a price of up to $970,000 or up to a $110,000 profit.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and no statement of defence has yet been filed.
Named as defendants are Wang and his then-real estate brokerage firm, Sunrich Realty Ltd. trading as Amex-Sunrich Realty, as well as businessman Ze Yu Wu.
The notice of civil claim says that as part of the scam, a boiler-plate operation allegedly took place out of an office building near the corner of No. 3 Road.
“Sunny was Wu at the seller’s meeting, but the person who identified himself as Sunny in the telephone calls was a person other than Sunny who was part of the scam,” says the writ. “It is estimated that there were over 60 property owners who fell victim to the scam.”
Wayne Ryan, Davis’s lawyer, said the case was an example of the lack of control real estate officials had on such transactions at the time and the lack of will to protect the public.
The plaintiffs are seeking the difference between the $870,000 sale price and the profit made by the alleged shadow flip. They also want damages for breach of contract and breach of trust, and punitive damages.
Wang, who was suspended for two weeks by the Real Estate Council of B.C. in 2012 for failing to promptly pay deposits in 12 transactions to the brokerage firm, couldn’t be reached. A woman who answered the phone at the brokerage firm said Wang no longer works for them and suggested that Wang be contacted before she hung up. Wu couldn’t be reached.
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