The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) has fined salesperson Sudershan Dulat $20,000 and ordered completion of an ethics course after finding multiple breaches of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002 (REBBA) Code of Ethics in connection with a series of property transactions involving a vulnerable client.
The matter proceeded by way of an Agreed Statement of Facts and Penalty, with both parties waiving the right to a formal hearing. Dulat admitted to violating sections 3, 4, 5, 38, and 39 of the Code of Ethics, which require registrants to act fairly and honestly, promote the client’s best interests, provide competent service, prevent misrepresentation or fraud, and avoid conduct unbecoming a registrant.
According to the agreed facts, between 2015 and 2019, Dulat represented a client with significant cognitive and physical impairments stemming from prior automobile accidents. The client’s sole income consisted of long-term disability assistance, supplemented by settlement funds from those accidents. Over the four-year period, Dulat represented the client in fifteen transactions involving eight different properties. In several of those transactions, Dulat’s spouse, also a registered salesperson, acted jointly as representative.
The decision details a complex pattern of property purchases and sales, many involving short intervals between acquisition and resale. In multiple instances, the client borrowed deposit funds from Dulat’s spouse, sometimes within days of entering into agreements. The transactions generated more than $101,000 in commissions for Dulat over the course of the representation.
The panel found that Dulat engaged in several breaches of professional standards. On one occasion, he obtained a signed and initialled Agreement of Purchase and Sale from the client that was otherwise blank, lacking essential details such as the property address, buyer and seller names, and purchase price. In another instance, he affixed the client’s signature and initials to an agreement without prior written authorization.
The evidence also showed that Dulat facilitated a transfer of $18,000 from the client to an acquaintance of his family without ensuring any written terms were in place. The funds were purportedly for basement renovations, yet the recipient was unknown to the client prior to the transaction.
A recurring concern in the decision was Dulat’s continuation as the client’s representative despite knowing, or having reason to know, that many of the purchases were beyond her financial means. At times, shortfalls in closing funds were met through new lines of credit or cash advances on the client’s credit cards, arranged in Dulat’s presence. Several properties were sold within months of purchase, sometimes at a loss.
RECO concluded that these actions demonstrated a failure to protect the client’s best interests, a lack of competent service, and conduct that would reasonably be viewed as disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional.
Under the terms of the penalty, Dulat must pay the $20,000 fine within one year and successfully complete the “REIC 2600: Ethics in Business Practice” course within 90 days, providing proof of completion to RECO.
The decision was released on March 21, 2025.
