British Columbia’s consumer protection agency has fined CIBC over $3.4 million after inspectors found the bank in violation of mortgage discharge rules.
This is the fifth of Canada’s five major banks to be fined this year for such violations; five other credit unions or financial institutions have also faced penalties. “Consumer Protection BC’s recent assessment of the financial sector’s compliance with provincial consumer protection laws showed that there is broad non-compliance when it comes to the requirement to provide a consumer with a discharge document within 30 days of a mortgage loan being paid in full,” the agency stated in July, adding investigations were conducted after hearing concerns from the Law Society of BC, Society of Notaries Public of BC and Land Title and Survey Authority of British...
Ron Usher, lead counsel for the Society of Notaries Public of BC, has monitored the issue for years, saying he had observed compliance deteriorate despite a high-profile fraud case that was aided by undischarged mortgages.