B.C. superintendent of real estate denies ignoring ‘shadow flipping’ problem

Feb 10, 2016 | 2:04 PM

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s superintendent of real estate denies that she has failed to take action on “shadow flipping,” saying she only learned of specific allegations from the media last week.

Carolyn Rogers says her office has not received any direct complaints in recent years about the practice, which involves a real estate agent selling the same home multiple times before the sale closes.

She says the contract-assignment clause is not new and her office issued a consumer alert in 2008 warning that in a hot housing market, purchasers might transfer their contracts to other buyers at a higher price.

Rogers’s office is independent of the Real Estate Council of B.C. and reviews their enforcement decisions, including decisions the council has made in recent years on contract assignment.