Days after moving in, the purchaser of a townhouse unit in Port Moody received a welcome package from the strata council stating that a vote on roof replacement options would take place at the annual general meeting on Dec. 15 | Tri-City News file photo

A Coquitlam realtor was reprimanded for failing to review strata documents that led to his client being hit with an unexpected $17,000 property assessment within weeks of buying a Port Moody townhouse.

According to a consent order from the Real Estate Council of British Columbia, Larrie Andrew Forbes should have known that a roof replacement was imminent for a property his client wanted to purchase on Foxwood Drive in 2016. The construction work was noted multiple times as far back as 2013 in strata minutes and documents provided by the seller’s realtor.

“Mr. Forbes did not review or discuss the documents with the complainant,” said an RECBC consent order, noting the deal for the property was free of subjects.

“Mr. Forbes failed to advise the complainant to seek independent professional advice regarding entering into a subject-free contract of purchase and sale, and in fact he recommended that she make a subject-free offer.”

According to the consent order, the townhouse was purchased on Sept. 17, 2016, for $520,000, with the buyer taking possession on Dec. 1. The person who launched the complaint against Forbes was not named in the RECBC documents.

Days after moving in, the new homeowner received a welcome package from the strata council stating that a vote on roof replacement options would take place at the annual general meeting on Dec. 15.

At the AGM, residents voted in favour of a special assessment of close to $1.2 million, of which the new homeowner would have to pay $17,402.

“Until she received the welcome package, the complainant was unaware of the roof replacement project and unaware of the special assessment (or the possibility of a special assessment) pertaining to the roof replacement,” the consent order stated.

The RECBC consent committee said Forbes should have taken better care in reviewing strata documents and inserted a hold-back clause into the purchasing contract to account for any special assessments.

Discipline action was commenced against Forbes on Jan. 16. Last month, he was ordered to pay a $7,500 penalty and $1,500 in enforcement costs.

Tri-City News