Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate Serves Order to Cease Providing Real Estate Services to Cricket Property Management Inc. and its Owners, Kapene Tio Mohiruatea Hiroti and Thomas Hongyang Zhang
VANCOUVER, BC, May 7, 2021 /CNW/ - The Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate (OSRE) has issued an order to freeze property and an order in urgent circumstances to immediately cease providing rental property management services against Cricket Property Management Inc. and Cricket Property Management (BC) Inc., (collectively Cricket Property Management). The order applies to the owners and directors of Cricket Property Management, Kapene Tio Mohiruatea Hiroti (Mr. Hiroti) and Thomas Hongyang Zhang (Mr. Zhang).
The orders were made on an urgent basis by Superintendent of Real Estate Micheal Noseworthy on Thursday, May 6, 2021, after determining evidence supports the conclusion that Cricket Property Management is providing unlicensed rental property management services for numerous owners and collecting remuneration for those services, contrary to the Real Estate Services Act (RESA). Neither company is or has been licensed to provide rental property management services.
OSRE staff have received numerous inquiries and complaints from industry members, tenants, owners, members of the public, and the Burnaby RCMP concerning the services that Cricket Property Management is or has been providing. As a result of an ongoing investigation into these complaints, the Superintendent has determined that it is in the public interest to make the order urgently without a hearing, and has ordered that Cricket Property Management and Mr. Hiroti and Mr. Zhang:
- Immediately cease providing rental property management services unless and until both become licensed under RESA to provide such services;
- Deliver up and provide outstanding documentation and financial records requested by OSRE;
- Return all rental and deposit monies to property owners as soon as practicable and provide evidence of same to the OSRE;
- Take reasonable steps to inform the public that Cricket Property Management is not licensed under RESA and not exempted under the Real Estate Services Regulation to provide real estate services in BC, including rental property management services; and
- Immediately remove from its websites and all other social media platforms all references to Cricket Property Management providing rental property management services in BC.
In addition, the Superintendent has issued an order to freeze property to prevent Mr. Hiroti and Mr. Zhang from withdrawing funds or other property on deposit. A copy of the orders and the Superintendent's Reasons for Decision regarding the orders is available on the OSRE website's RESA enforcement page.
In accordance with RESA, Cricket Property Management may require a hearing before the Superintendent or appeal these orders to the Financial Services Tribunal.
Clients or tenants of Cricket Property Management are asked to contact the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate for further information by phone at 1.855.999.1883 or email at [email protected]
About OSRE
OSRE is a regulatory agency of the B.C. government that carries out the regulatory, oversight and enforcement duties of the Superintendent of Real Estate. It receives its authority from the Real Estate Services Act, the Real Estate Development Marketing Act and the Strata Property Act.
SOURCE Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate
Warren Mirko, Media Relations Advisor, Real Estate Council of British Columbia (on behalf of OSRE), T: 778.783.4057, Toll-Free: 1.877.683.9664, Email: [email protected]
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