Drinking someone else's milk straight from the jug costs B.C. real estate agent $20,000

A British Columbia real estate agent has been fined $20,000 after being caught on camera drinking milk straight out of the jug at a home he was showing.

A consent order released by the B.C. Financial Services Authority last week said Mike Rose was alone in the home in Kamloops, B.C., in July last year as he waited for his clients, who were interested in buying the property.

Rose went to the refrigerator to find water, according to the consent order, but instead swigged some milk straight from the container, which he then put back in the refrigerator.

The consent order, agreed by both the superintendent of real estate and Rose, said the owners of the home saw him drinking the milk when they reviewed footage from a surveillance camera, then confronted him about it two days later.

Rose, who apologized for his actions, was told he wasn't welcome in the home and his clients replaced him in their purchase of the property.

He claims in the order that his behaviour was out of character, and he was "unusually dehydrated" at the time because of a new medication, as well as being under "considerable stress." 

It states Rose opened the fridge looking for water, but when he couldn't find any he instead drank the milk. 

More than a slap on the wrist

The homeowner, Lyska Fullerton, said she is still upset by Rose's behaviour and is glad the regulatory body did something about the incident. 

"It's just a little bit more than a slap on the wrist, which is good," she said. "It's definitely a fine that's going to put a little dent in him."

Fullerton posted the surveillance footage to Facebook after the incident in July 2022. At the time, she said she notified another real estate agent at Rose's brokerage, Royal LePage Kamloops, who notified management. 

"When you have professionals in your home ... you feel like you can trust them," she said. "And I learned quite a lesson in this." 

Shortly after the incident in July 2022, Rose wrote in a statement to CBC News that his actions were "unfortunate" and "uncharacteristic." 

It said he would spend time considering his behaviour and take action to prevent any similar missteps in the future.

"I have never done this kind of thing before, nor will I ever behave in this way again," said the statement. 

Rose, who is now working at a different brokerage, agreed to pay a disciplinary penalty of $20,000 to the authority for conduct unbecoming, and $2,500 in enforcement expenses.