MANAGER OF CITY'S HOMES CRITICIZED

The company that manages 58 city-owned houses is not living up to the
requirements of the Real Estate Act, another property manager has charged.

Property management companies are required to designate a nominee for each
office, a role which requires a high level of education and experience.

Section 9.16 of the Act requires that the nominee be present in the office
on a regular basis, and that the person be "actively engaged in the
business of the corporation or partnership."

But another property manager, who did not want to be named, says that
York-West Asset Management is not meeting those requirements.

The Richmond office of the Calgary-based company appears to have been
operating with minimal involvement of its nominee, Don Donson.

In an interview with York-West nominee Don Donson last week, he was at a
loss to provide many details about the company's operations.

Donson was not at the York-West office when The Review called last week. At
his Surrey residence, Donson's wife answered and said her husband was out.
When questioned about her husband's work, she replied that he was "retired."

When Donson was reached later that day, he said he wasn't sure how many
city-owned houses his company was managing.

"Now that's one I can't answer," he said. "I'm on holidays, and I've been
away from the office for over two weeks now. Or, over a week, I should say."

Two of the city-owned houses managed by York-West were found to contain
marijuana grow operations earlier this month. Janet McAllister, the agent
who manages the city's portfolio for York-West, said last week that they
had issued 24 hour inspection notices to all tenants, and planned to survey
the interiors of all their units within the week.

York-West receives about $32 per house per month as part of the contract
arranged in 1997. Under the terms, the company is required to inspect the
homes once a month.

Donson said his company is "pretty aware" of what's going on in the houses,
because they "consistently inspect (their) houses."

But he wasn't sure how often the properties were inspected.

"You've really got me there," Donson said. "That would depend on the
property manager that takes care of it. Normally you inspect the property
after it's vacated. And before it's re-let."

But McAllister said last week her company inspects the interiors of their
properties annually, and does monthly drive-by (exterior) inspections.

The receptionist at York-West said Donson had "just stepped out" and would
be back in half an hour, when a second call was made to the office this week.

McAllister said that Donson wasn't coming in that day, because his car was
in the shop.

But she said Donson "pops by every day," and oversees the business.

"He's the figurehead," she said. "He holds the office license and oversees
me, so when you call him, you're checking on me."

Rob Fawcett, executive officer of the Real Estate Council, says the
responsibility of the nominee is a de facto boss, who oversees all aspects
of the operation. Fawcett said if a company is found to be without a
nominee in regular attendance, that person can be subject to council
discipline.

"Sometimes we do find nominees in breach of (the regulation), in that they
weren't in regular attendance and active charge of the business," Fawcett
said. "Or that they weren't in regular attendance and active charge of a
particular transaction."

George Duncan, the city's chief administrator, said he has asked staff to
review the contract with York-West, and their performance to date. The
participation of the nominee is among the things they will look into, he said.

Duncan said he plans to see if it is time to put the city contract out for
a new tendering.

Mayor Greg Halsey-Brandt said he'd like to see city homes inspected more
often, but how often is up for debate.

"Before, they weren't doing internal inspections, just drive-bys," he said.
"We're asking them to do more than that-I don't know how much. Obviously,
you can't harass people."

Halsey-Brandt suggested the solution might be to have the company conduct
more internal inspections in the early stages of tenancy. Tenants at both
houses where grow-ops were found had been living there less than a year.

The tenants at 9685 Ferndale Rd. had moved in Aug.1, 1999, and the tenants
at 9215 Granville Ave. moved in two months later.

According to the mayor, Richmond RCMP has a backlog of about 80 houses
which are suspected to have grow-ops, that require investigating.

He said he has considered creating a levy against landlords to pay for the
emergency services required as a result of grow-op investigations and
supplemental damages to the community.