On November 14, 2017, the Real Estate Council of British Columbia announced that it suspended the real estate licences of Kevindeep (Kevin) Singh Bratch and Bratch Realty Ltd.

The move was made pending completion of investigation into Bratch’s conduct.

At the time, the RECBC revealed that it wanted to know if Bratch was “engaged in aggressive marketing and sales practices targeting vulnerable persons who were financially distressed as a result of their homes being in foreclosure proceedings”.

“The Council is also investigating whether these were ‘predatory’ schemes for personal gain and profit at the expense of those who were in distress,” the council stated in 2017.

The investigation has been completed, and after hearing, a discipline committee has determined that Bratch committed professional misconduct.

A summary of the findings was published on September 13, 2021 on the website of the B.C. Financial Services Authority.

The investigation focused on three properties.

In one of these, the summary stated that Bratch “targeted the owner with a ‘rent-to-own’ program which included disadvantageous terms for the owner”.

Bratch knew that the owner was in foreclosure proceedings and was “financially distressed and vulnerable”.

In reasons for decision regarding liability, the discipline committee related how Bratch “approached allegedly financially vulnerable individuals”.

These individuals were “all facing foreclosure on their homes”.

They were presented with a “rent-to-own scheme (the ‘RTO Scheme’)”, which Bratch completed through his brokerage.

“Under the RTO Scheme,” the committee recalled, “Mr. Bratch and his wife, or a company controlled by his wife (the ‘Buyers’), would buy homes from individuals … at prices substantially below the homes’ assessed values”.

The buyers would then “rent the homes back to the Owners at higher-than-market rental rates pursuant to tenancy agreements”.

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