Licence Appeal Tribunal File Number: 12027/REBBA
An Appeal from a Notice of Proposal by the Registrar, Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 30, Sched. C, to Suspend Registration.
Between:
Ryan Hodge
Appellant
and
Registrar, Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002
CONSENT ORDER
ADJUDICATOR: Stephen Scharbach, Member
APPEARANCES:
For the Appellant: Ondrej Sabo, Counsel
For the Respondent: Shane Smith, Counsel
OVErview
1Ryan Hodge (“Appellant”) requested a hearing before this Tribunal to consider a Notice of Proposal issued by the Registrar under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (“Respondent”) on April 7, 2019, to suspend his registration as a real estate broker.
2The Registrar proposed to suspend the Appellant’s registration on the following grounds:
a) The Appellant made or provided a false statement in an application for registration or for renewal of registration by not disclosing the existence of his other business and by attesting to having completed required continuing education courses when he had not personally completed; and
b) The Appellant’s past conduct provided reasonable grounds to believe that he would not carry on business in accordance with the law, and with integrity and honesty by his arranging for administrative staff at his brokerage to complete required continuing education courses on his behalf and by the false statements made in applications as set out above.
3A four-day hearing was scheduled for September 5-9, 2023. However, shortly after the hearing commenced, the parties advised the Tribunal that they resolved the issues in dispute and requested that the terms of their resolution be incorporated into a consent order disposing of this proceeding.
4The parties signed and filed with the Tribunal written Minutes of Settlement dated September 7, 2023, setting out the terms of their resolution and the order requested. A copy of that document is attached to this Order.
5Accordingly, after reviewing the agreement signed by the parties, and on their consent, I make the following order pursuant to subsections 10(2) and 14(5) of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002:
ORDER
6The Registrar shall carry out the Notice of Proposal to suspend the Appellant’s registration for the period of November 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, inclusive.
7As a condition of the Appellant’s registration, the Appellant shall, within 60 days of the issuance of this Order, successfully complete the Real Estate Institute of Canada’s ethics course (REIC 2600 - Ethics in Business Practice).
8The proceedings in this matter are concluded and disposed of on the basis of the terns set out above.
LICENCE APPEAL TRIBUNAL
________________________
Stephen Scharbach, Member
Released: September 12, 2023
Tribunal File No. 12027/ REBBA
In a Matter Before the Licence Appeal Tribunal
BETWEEN
Ryan Hodge
Appellant
- and -
Registrar, Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002
MI NUTES OF SETTLEMENT
WHEREAS the Respondent issued a Notice of Proposal (the Proposal) to suspend the registration of the Appellant in April 2019, which Proposal was supplemented with Further Particulars dated March 31, 2023;
AND WHEREAS the Appellant filed a Notice of Appeal to request a hearing before the Licence Appeal Tribunal (Tribunal) to contest the Proposal;
AND WHEREAS the parties engaged in discussions aimed at attempting to resolve the dispute without a hearing;
NOW THEREFORE the parties have agreed that this matter be resolved as set out below:
The Appellant’s registration with the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) will be suspended for a term of sixty (60) days, with the suspension to take effect from November 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, after which the registration of the Appellant will be reinstated to active status.
Attached as Appendix A and forming part of these Minutes of Settlement is a document setting out guidelines and understandings regarding certain matters relating to the period of suspension.
The Appellant will successfully complete the Real Estate Institute of Canada’s ethics course (REIC 2600 – Ethics in Business Practice) within sixty (60) days of the issuance of the consent order to be issued by the Tribunal as set out below (the Consent Order).
Subject to the agreement of the Tribunal, the Consent Order of the Tribunal will be in the form attached hereto as Appendix B.
The Respondent agrees that it will not initiate any further administrative actions based on the matters that were the subject of the Proposal or the Further Particulars (the Matters), or on information that was otherwise known to the Respondent at the time of the execution of these Minutes of Settlement relating to the Matters.
For clarity, nothing in this agreement restricts in any manner the ability of the Registrar to commence or take any further action pursuant to the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (REBBA) (or its successor legislation) based on any information, deficiency or event that may come to the Registrar’s attention for the first time after the execution of these Minutes of Settlement. This can include a proposal to revoke/suspend/impose conditions on the Appellant’s registration which relies as part of evidence of past conduct, conduct relating to the Matters, with the understanding that paragraph 5 precludes conduct that falls within paragraph 5 as being the initiating conduct for such administrative action. To that end, nothing in these Minutes of Settlement and/or the Consent Order is intended to prejudice or limit the Registrar's rights in that regard under REBBA.
The Appellant will take the necessary steps to withdraw his outstanding appeal to the Divisional Court (identified as Divisional Court file NO. DC-23-31) and the Respondent will consent to the withdrawal of the appeal on a without costs basis.
The Appellant acknowledges that he has read and understood the terms of these Minutes of Settlement and confirms that he has obtained or had the opportunity to obtain independent legal advice with respect to the content of these Minutes of Settlement.
The Appellant acknowledges that a breach of the terms of these Minutes of Settlement may result in administrative action and/or prosecution under REBBA or its successor legislation.
These Minutes of Settlement may be executed in counterparts and a faxed or scanned copy shall be considered valid and binding.
AGREED TO AND EXECUTED BY:
__________________________ Date:_________________________
Ryan Hodge
Reg. No. 4739752
__________________________ Date:_________________________
Joseph Richer
Registrar, Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002
Appendix A – Suspension Implementation
The Parties have had discussions regarding the steps to be taken by the Appellant in order to comply with the restriction on not being engaged in trading in real estate during the term of suspension set out in the Minutes of Settlement.
To that end, the following steps have been proposed by the Appellant and, upon review, have been accepted by the Respondent as being in compliance with the Appellant’s obligations during the term of his suspension:
Print Marketing
All direct mail marketing flyers sent during the term of the suspension will only have The Hodge Group Logo and Sandra Tavares’ (the Alternate Broker of Record) contact information.
The Appellant may be referred to as the owner of The Realty Firm.
The same will apply to any outgoing magazine publications and print media which have not already been circulated.
Any existing For Sale including the Appellant’s name will be changed/replaced to remove the Appellant’s name during the term of the suspension.
Social Media
- During the term of the suspension, social media graphics relating to The Realty Firm and/or the Appellant will have to be altered, so as not to refer to the Appellant as the broker of record or to hold out or give the impression that the Appellant is an active registrant able to engage in the trading of real estate. As part of any automated newsletters/communications sent out during the term of the suspension there will be a statement that Sandar Tavares is the broker of record of The Realty Firm.
This brokerage website can continue to include the Appellant, however during the term of the suspension the website will be amended to remove reference to the Appellant as the Broker of Record (instead referring to Ms. Tavares) with the Appellant being referred to as Owner and Founder.
The Appellant will ensure that during the term of the suspension responses related to any direct listing data feeds are redirected to Sandra Tavares.
www.ryanhodge.ca; ryanandsandra.ca
These websites may be continued, however during the term of the suspension, this website will be amended as necessary to refer to the Appellant as Owner and Founder of The Realty Firm and ensure that any inquiries/contacts generated through the website are sent to other active registrants within The Realty Firm.
It is understood that the Appellant will not be able to and cannot change some existing ads, banners, or online links from third parties or which exist from marketing in the past.
The Respondent confirms that the Appellant will have the ability to submit materials to RECO in advance of the suspension for review of compliance with REBBA for the term of the suspension.
The Respondent confirms that the Appellant will not be considered to be in breach of his suspension obligations and restrictions as a result of a third-party communications/documents/postings/ publications/etc. (Communications) which may be distributed during the term of the suspension, and which indicate the Appellant’s status to be a broker or broker of record. This is subject to the caveat that the Appellant must not have been planned, directed, been involved and/or played a role in such Communications being distributed during the period of suspension.
The Appellant confirms that the content of this Appendix A is not intended to be and is not a complete summary or outline of what is required of the Appellant to be in compliance with the restrictions placed upon him during the term of the suspension. The Appellant acknowledges that he is aware that during the term of the suspension he must refrain from engaging in the trading of real estate as that term is defined in REBBA and the obligation rests with him to ensure his compliance.
Appendix B – Draft Form of Consent Order
BACKGROUND
Ryan Hodge (the “Appellant”) instituted an appeal of a Notice of Proposal to suspend his registration that was issued by the Registrar, Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (the “Registrar”) on April 8, 2018.
The Registrar proposed to suspend the Appellant’s registration on the following grounds:
a) because he had made or provided a false statement in an application for registration or for renewal of registration by not disclosing the existence of his other business and by attesting to having completed required continuing education courses when he had not personally completed; and
b) because his past conduct provided reasonable grounds to believe that he would not carry on business in accordance with the law, and with integrity and honesty by his arranging for administrative staff at his brokerage to complete required continuing education courses on his behalf and by the false statements made in applications as set out above.
The parties have advised the Tribunal that were able to resolve this matter without the need for a hearing and have requested that the terms of the resolution be incorporated into a consent order disposing of this proceeding.
The executed Minutes of Settlement (dated September 6, 2023) were provided to the Tribunal at the commencement of the appeal hearing on September 7, 2023.
ORDER AND DIRECTION
- Accordingly, on the consent of the parties and upon having reviewed the agreement signed by the Appellant and the Registrar, the Tribunal, pursuant to subsection 14(5) of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 directs and orders:
i) the Registrar will carry out the Notice of Proposal to suspend the Appellant’s registration for the period of November 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023 inclusive; and
ii) the Appellant will successfully complete the Real Estate Institute of Canada’s ethics course (REIC 2600 – Ethics in Business Practice) within 60 days of the issuance of this order of the Tribunal.
- The proceedings in this matter are concluded and disposed of without a hearing on the basis of the terms set out above.