Kelowna, B.C., rental brokerage's accounts frozen, company ordered to cease operations

The B.C. Financial Services Authority has ordered a Kelowna, B.C., rental brokerage firm to terminate operations and has frozen its accounts in an "urgent order."

Menethil Properties, which manages over 100 rental properties in the southern Interior city, had been running since January 2020.

But on Friday, the BCFSA ordered a freeze on the firm's accounts, after an earlier finding this February ordered it to cease providing real estate services because its managing broker's licence had been suspended.

That suspension came after Menethil's managing broker, Tao (Terry) Guo, moved overseas and didn't properly surrender his licence, instead delegating his responsibilities to one of the firm's property managers, Yu (David) Song, the authority said. 

Song was the previous managing broker of the firm, but he himself was suspended from that role in September 2023 and fined $25,000 for failing to file financial statements and not responding to the authority's requests for information in time.

The BCFSA's investigation into the firm began in September 2024, when the authority said it received complaints that property management clients were not receiving funds Menethil was holding in trust accounts.

It was revealed that the firm was operating through Song, and the BCFSA said Menethil and Song's continued access to the firm's trust accounts would be an "ongoing risk to the public."

'Urgent need to protect the public'

When the company was investigated after the public complaints, managing broker Guo told the BCFSA in September 2024 that he delegated responsibilities — including the trust account — to Song.

Shortly thereafter, Guo told the BCFSA that he would live overseas for two years.

While he had sought information on how to transfer his broker's licence, he eventually stopped responding to the BCFSA's requests for more information, the authority said. 

Then Guo's licence was suspended and Menethil was effectively inoperative, according to BCFSA documents.

"Given that Mr. Guo has failed [to] surrender his licence, and has not provided any timeline in which he will do so, I consider that there is an urgent need to protect the public by suspending his licence at this time," reads a decision from BCFSA hearing officer Andrew Pendray.

After Guo's licence was suspended, Song was ordered to wind up Menethil, as there was no licensed managing broker.

"Despite those facts, the evidence and information before me indicates that Menethil has continued to collect rent on behalf of owner clients during a time when both Menethil and Mr. Song's licenses were inoperative, to at least March 28, 2025," reads a decision from Pendray issued last Friday.

BCFSA documents showed Song had also texted a tenant regarding a showing of their home, as well as asked another tenant to pay rent to a different email address than she was used to, in the months after he was ordered to close the brokerage.

Now, Menethil's accounts have all been frozen and the firm has been ordered to hand over its books to the BCFSA.

Menethil's website has been taken offline. CBC News reached Song through a number previously listed on the website.

"We've already informed the BCFSA that we're going to wind up," Song said, and added he would be transferring to a different company.

When asked what the next steps would be for his clients, Song said that they were "already looked after," and there was no serious damage as a result of the affair.

Landlords who had properties managed by Menethil have been asked to establish alternative arrangements, or manage rents themselves, and have been told they cannot evict tenants who had paid money to Menethil as part of their tenancy agreements.

"While there may be some temporary impact to members of the public who are unable to access funds that Menethil is currently holding in trust, I consider that the broader public interest requires that the accounts be frozen in order to ensure that those funds are properly maintained," the BCFSA's Pendray said.

Tenants and landlords who have more questions can visit the BCFSA website for more information.