Local news delivered daily to your email inbox. Subscribe for FREE to the rdnewsNOW newsletter.

No sanctions for 43 of 45 Home Capital brokers and agents, Ontario regulator says

Jun 2, 2017 | 6:00 PM

TORONTO — An Ontario regulator says it will not be disciplining 43 of the 45 mortgage brokers and agents that mortgage lender Home Capital cut ties with over allegations they falsified loan applications.

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario said last week it had disciplined a mortgage broker and an agent after finding them to be non-compliant with the province’s Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act.

On Thursday, the commission said it concluded its review into all 45 individuals and has not taken any action against 43 of them.

It said last Friday that its superintendent of financial services concluded that agent Zaheer Mohammad gave false income and employment information to a lender in the course of brokering mortgages on six separate occasions.

He was fined $43,853.64 and had his licence revoked in May of last year.

The commission also said broker Gagandeep Duggal was fined $5,000 last November for providing false or deceptive information when dealing with mortgages.

The sanctions show that the province’s regulatory system is protecting the public interest, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa said.

“These issues have been identified and they’re being addressed,” Sousa said Thursday.

The health of Canada’s mortgage market has been hotly debated in recent weeks. Concerns about the real estate sector intensified after the Ontario Securities Commission announced in April it was conducting a separate investigation into Home Capital, alleging it misled investors in their handling falsified loan applications.

Home Capital (TSX:HCG) has said the OSC’s allegations are without merit and it will defend itself.

Since the accusations surfaced, Home Capital has been struggling to stay afloat as customers quickly pulled deposits. It has since secured a $2-billion lifeline from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.

David Hodges and Alexandra Posadzki, The Canadian Press