33-06-0958

Licence number

A3648

Broker's name

Poitras, André

Decision

Notice of suspension and limitation
of the certificate
of Mr. André Poitras

File: 33-06-0958

NOTICE is hereby given that Mr. André Poitras, chartered real estate broker (Certificate No. A3648), formerly operating under the name Les Immeubles Malbec enr., whose establishment is located at 5344 Bélanger Street in Montreal, has been found guilty by the Discipline Committee of the Association des courtiers et agents immobiliers du Québec of the offences summarized below:

1st count: Between July 28, 2004 and September 10, 2004, with respect to an immovable, failing to demonstrate integrity and participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, namely by indicating under clause 4.2 of a promise to purchase that a buyer, i.e. the defendant’s son, was giving a deposit of $2,000 by cheque made payable to Les Immeubles Malbec enr., in trust, whereas no such cheque was deposited in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

2nd count: Starting from the signing of a promise to purchase dated July 28, 2004, with respect to an immovable, failing to transmit to the ACAIQ a copy of the written notice disclosing his quality of real estate broker, as well as a copy of said promise to purchase according to the provisions of sections 81 and following of the By-Law of the ACAIQ, the whole contrary to section 23 of the Real Estate Brokerage Act.

3rd count: Between December 22, 2004 and February 2, 2005, with respect to an immovable, failing to demonstrate integrity, participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, wrongfully appropriating sums of money and other securities held on behalf of a client or using sums of money and other securities for purposes other than that for which they had been entrusted to him in the course of his profession, namely by failing to deposit in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., a cheque in the amount of $1,000 received on another’s behalf in the course of his activities or by failing to ensure that this amount was deposited therein, the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

4th count: On or around January 19, 2005, with respect to an immovable, failing to demonstrate integrity, participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, namely by signing and issuing a receipt in trust attesting to the deposit of a sum of $1,000 in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., whereas said sum was not deposited in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ and to section 116 of the By-Law of the ACAIQ.

5th count: Between April 9, 2005 and June 2, 2005, with respect to an immovable, failing to demonstrate integrity, participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, appropriating sums of money and other securities held on behalf of a client or using sums of money and other securities for purposes other than that for which they had been entrusted to him in the course of his profession, namely by failing to deposit in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., the amount of $1,000 received on another’s behalf in the course of his activities or by failing to ensure that this amount was deposited therein, the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

6th count: Between May 30, 2005 and June 29, 2005, with respect to an immovable, failing to demonstrate integrity, participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, appropriating sums of money and other securities held on behalf of a client or using sums of money and other securities for purposes other than that for which they had been entrusted to him in the course of his profession, namely by failing to deposit in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., an amount of $25,000 received on another’s behalf in the course of his activities or by failing to ensure that this amount was deposited therein, the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

7th count: On or around May 31, 2005, with respect to an immovable, failing to demonstrate integrity, participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, namely by signing and issuing a receipt in trust attesting to the deposit of a sum of $25,000 in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., whereas said sum was not deposited in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr. until June 29, 2005, the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ and to section 116 of the By-Law of the ACAIQ.

8th count: Between on or around September 19, 2005 and on or around September 23, 2005, failing to practice his profession with prudence, diligence and competence, namely by failing to deposit before October 12, 2005 in the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr. the deposit cheque in the amount of $1,000 remitted by a promising buyer in the course of the transaction concerning an immovable, the whole contrary to sections 1 and 22 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

9th count: Between November 4 and 8, 2005, with respect to an immovable, participating in an act or practice in real estate matters which may be illegal or which may cause prejudice to the public or to the profession, wrongfully appropriating sums of money and other securities held on behalf of a client or using sums of money and other securities for purposes other than that for which they had been entrusted to him in the course of his profession, namely by authorizing the illegal or premature withdrawal from the trust account of Les Immeubles Malbec enr. of a sum totalling $1,000, the whole contrary to sections 1 and 13 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

10th count: From the end of 1998 to date, failing to keep records, books and registers in accordance with the provisions of the Act, notably:

a) since December 1998, failing to keep the following registers in accordance with the provisions of the Act, i.e. a register of his transactions referred to in section 1 of the Act and an individual register for each of his transactions referred to in section 1 of the Act;

b) since January 2002, failing to keep an accounting register regarding sums held in trust, the whole contrary to section 14 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ and to sections 130, 134, 136 and 137 of the By-Law of the ACAIQ.

11th count: On or around July 4, 2006, misrepresenting information during an inquiry conducted by an assistant syndic, namely by falsely stating on the one hand that a deposit in the amount of $25,000 appearing for May 30, 2005 on the statement of a current account opened with a financial institution in the name of Les Immeubles Malbec enr., concerned an increase in the mortgage on the immovable of his establishment and, on the other hand, that this deposit had nothing to do with the $25,000 deposit paid by a buyer in the course of the transaction concerning an immovable, the whole contrary to section 55 of the Rules of Professional Ethics of the ACAIQ.

On May 7, 2007, the Discipline Committee ordered a suspension of Mr. André Poitras’ certificate for a continuous period ending June 20, 2007 inclusively, globally on counts No. 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9 of the complaint, and, upon reinstatement, a limitation of his certificate to the category of chartered real estate agent, and a suspension for a continuous period ending June 20, 2007 inclusively, globally on counts No. 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, and 11, and, upon reinstatement, a limitation of his certificate to the category of chartered real estate agent.

On May 8, 2008, the Court of Québec, in the appeal of the Discipline Committee’s decision, upheld the Committee’s decision

The decision of the Court of Québec is enforceable from the date of the appeals deadline, i.e. June 10, 2008. The limitation Mr. André Poitras’ chartered real estate broker is enforceable as of June 10, 2008.

This notice is given in accordance with section 137 of the Real Estate Brokerage Act (R.S.Q., c. C-73.1).

Brossard, June 10, 2008

Chantal Peltier
Discipline Committee Secretary