The British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) has ordered real estate licensees Anthony Browton and Linsey Hulls to pay disciplinary penalties totaling CAD 130,000 for professional misconduct involving misrepresentation of their team status and sharing confidential client information without written consent. Browton must pay CAD 90,000 and Hulls CAD 40,000, with each also required to pay CAD 2,000 in enforcement expenses. Browton’s misconduct also included failing to disclose a conflict of interest. The misconduct concerned property transactions in Sechelt and Halfmoon Bay between January and March 2020. For the Halfmoon Bay property, Browton acted as designated agent for two interested clients without disclosing the resulting conflict to either and disclosed confidential information about one client’s offer to the other. Both licensees represented themselves as working as a team, although Hulls was not listed as a designated agent for either client and the pair were not registered as a team with BCFSA. Hulls also shared confidential information about possible vendor financing with Browton and one of his clients. Browton continued to misrepresent their team status in the Sechelt transaction, where he was the buyer’s designated agent. BCFSA requires team registration when licensees present themselves to the public as a single entity, regularly act as designated agents for the same client, or regularly work together in a way that creates implied agency with the same party. These requirements support disclosure of who represents a client and owes professional and fiduciary duties.

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