Real estate agent barred over sexual messages, offering tenants weed
Joe Parente, 40, isn’t allowed to reapply for his realty licence until 2020
Rhianna Schmunk
other
A former real estate agent in Metro Vancouver has been barred from practice for sending unsolicited, inappropriate messages to a stranger, his neighbour and his boss — and after being accused of offering a bag of weed to renters last year.
Guiseppe “Joe” Parente, 40, lost jobs more than three times in three years over his behaviour, but continued to land new positions with different brokerages around Burnaby and Vancouver.
He lasted a year or less at each before a new complaint surfaced, according to a consent order from the Real Estate Council of B.C.
Parente was reached by phone for comment Thursday morning, but hung up.
‘Personal problems’
Parente’s behaviour over the years is laid out in the order, published Wednesday.
It said the inappropriate messages began when Parente was a ReMax agent in Vancouver. The order said he sent a sexual photo to another real estate agent he’d never met before over Facebook Messenger in December 2014.
She ignored him, but he followed up with another message and three more photos a few months later.
Parente apologized in an email after their managers got involved.
Two months later, ReMax surrendered Parente’s licence to the council but said he was leaving because he was “changing brokerages.”
It wasn’t until the council started investigating Parente that ReMax said he’d actually been fired for failing to “address personal problems.”
In the meantime, Parente transferred to ReMax City in Vancouver.
He worked there for a year until he was let go for repeatedly trying to contact a past customer — despite them asking him to stop — and for appearing intoxicated at a work event, according to the order.
Parente insisted he left over a commission dispute.
The brokerage surrendered his licence on July 29, 2016 — but, again, council was initially told Parente was “changing offices.”
The very same day, Parente got another job with Team 3000 Realty in Burnaby.
The order said that lasted about six months.
“In a misguided attempt at humour, Mr. Parente sent an inappropriate text message consisting of an offensive image of a sexual nature to Mr. M, his managing broker,” the decision read.
Parente was ultimately dropped by the Burnaby office in February 2017 after “sporadically” sending unsolicited text messages to a neighbour, who’d given him her contact information thinking he could help her with a real estate investment.
That behaviour led to a formal caution from RCMP.
Parente got a new job at Team 3000’s Vancouver location a month after leaving Burnaby.
Offered tenants weed and wine: order
Parente was hired to list a house on Turner Street in April 2017. The agent phoned the tenants, referred to as DM and CS in the order, to arrange a meeting to talk about staging.
DM told the council Parente offered to bring her “some weed” during that call.
She said she thought he was kidding, but that he showed up at their appointment with a bottle of wine and a bag of marijuana anyway.
The tenant also said Parente appeared intoxicated, swore and made sexual as well as racial comments in front of guests and two children.
Parente denied swearing, bringing weed and making inappropriate remarks — but the order said he did admit his behaviour could have been “perceived by others” as offensive.
Penalties handed down
On Nov. 15, 2017, Parente’s licence was surrendered for the final time.
It expired on July 28, 2018, amid disciplinary proceedings, which were sparked by complaints from the public.
The real estate council has now banned Parente from applying for his real estate licence for nearly two years. If he does choose to reapply, he’ll have to take a college-level course on interpersonal skills in the workplace first.
Parente has also been ordered to pay $3,000 in enforcement expenses.
©2018 CBC/Radio-Canada.