FSRA’s approach to supervision and enforcement is meant to protect the public while maintaining high standards of conduct in the industry.
FSRA ensures that licensed mortgage brokers and agents conduct themselves appropriately and that they meet specific education and suitability requirements. Where FSRA finds misconduct, it issues a Notice of Proposal to impose an appropriate sanction. Sanctions can include administrative penalties requiring payment of a monetary amount, licence suspension or licence revocation.
Where an individual or entity disagrees with a Notice of Proposal, they can request a hearing before the Financial Services Tribunal (Tribunal).
These recent cases show the consequences of misconduct in the mortgage brokering sector.
Ashraf Koya – administrative penalties
Koya was a principal broker whose licence had expired. After surrendering his mortgage brokerage’s licence, Koya failed to retain some required records and provided false information to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO, FSRA’s predecessor) about those records. The Tribunal upheld FSRA’s proposal and imposed total administrative penalties of $15,000.
Meerwise Habibzi – administrative penalties
Habibzi was a mortgage agent. When one of his clients won $1,000,000 in the lottery, he convinced her to provide him with $450,000 to invest in second mortgages. After he failed to place the mortgages or repay her, he claimed she had given him the money because he was part of the group that won the lottery. The Tribunal found that Habibzi provided false or deceptive information when dealing in mortgages and provided false and misleading information to FSRA during our investigation. The Tribunal imposed administrative penalties totalling $20,000.
Millicent Prince – licence revocation
Prince was a mortgage agent who repeatedly submitted licence applications and renewals with false information. She did not disclose a criminal conviction or that her real estate agent licence had been previously revoked. The Tribunal agreed that Prince’s past conduct and her failure to disclose it made her unsuitable to be licensed. FSRA revoked her licence.
Dinesh Khanna – licence revocation
Khanna was a mortgage agent who obtained his licence under an alias after the Tribunal previously found him to be unsuitable and refused to renew his licence. Khanna applied to FSRA for a licence under an alias, and omitted information in his applications including his criminal convictions, prior licence refusal, and ongoing civil proceedings. FSRA issued a Notice of Proposal to revoke Khanna’s licence, along with an interim order suspending his licence. The Tribunal upheld revocation.
See Enforcement actions for more details on FSRA’s ongoing enforcement efforts.