A McBride real estate agent at the centre of a legal battle over the handling of a complaint brought against him is denying he misled a couple interested in purchasing property in the area.
The couple, Garry and Wendy Lowe, allege Rodger Peterson led them to believe they were buying a 160-acre plot near Crescent Spur only to discover it was much smaller and lacked the field they had intended to use for organic farming.
But in a response filed July 3 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Peterson says the property was listed at 90 acres, that he provided them with accurate maps of the land and twice offered to drive them to the site to walk the property only to see them decline the offer both times.
Peterson says he made the suggestion when he first provided the information and then when they accepted a contract to purchase the land.
“They declined that offer as well,” Peterson’s lawyer says in the response. “They were adamant that Mr. Peterson not go to the property. They were adamant that they wanted to make an offer.”
Peterson prepared an offer for the Lowes that was later accepted by the seller but the couple then refused to complete the purchase, saying it was not the size they thought it was.
The matter has since escalated into a conflict between Michael Noseworthy, B.C.’s superintendent of real estate and the B.C. Real Estate Council – the industry-led council the provincial government appointed him to oversee in 2016 in answer to a frenzy of scandals related to the Metro Vancouver housing market.
Following the failed purchase, the couple had filed a complaint with the BCREC which eventually chose to not discipline Peterson. Unhappy with the outcome, the Lowes then took the matter to Noseworthy and in 2017, he ordered the BCREC to issue a notice of disciplinary hearing to Peterson.
But the BCREC has refused to comply, arguing it was “functus officio” – a principle that once a board or tribunal has made a decision it has fulfilled its statutory duty and so had no further ability to consider the case.
In January, Noseworthy filed a petition with B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver arguing otherwise and the matter remains before the court.
