A Vancouver property management company says its trust accounts have been unfrozen and its licence reinstated, two weeks after a regulator's "urgent" order against them. Rent It Furnished Inc. hired former B.
C. Attorney General Wally Oppal to defend itself against what it and Oppal called "unfair" order from the B.C.
Financial Services Authority, which regulates a variety of industries in the province, including real estate. In a statement Friday, the company said the BCFSA had rescinded its order "following an urgent legal hearing that included results from KPMG's third-party forensic audit, which Rent It Furnished commissioned to vindicate itself." The company stressed that the BCFSA's July 25 order contained "zero evidence" of a public complaint about it, nor of any misappropriation of trust funds.
Rent It Furnished also claimed the BCFSA didn't give the company a chance to defend itself before issuing the order. "The BCFSA has a legitimate role to protect the public, but this suspension didn’t fit the circumstances and caused widespread disruption to the business and members of the public who depend on it," said Oppal, in the release. "While Rent It Furnished had some administrative issues, the order was unnecessarily punitive, especially considering the business is classified as an essential service.
I am pleased the BCFSA took a second look and rescinded it." The regulator issued its order – and a "consumer alert" – late last month, saying they were the latest ste.