The professional complaint filed against the flamboyant real estate broker Mathieu Arseneault because of his viral promotional videos on TikTok has been withdrawn. The star of the show’s first seasons Numbers 1 at CASA, known for visiting its clients by helicopter and luxury cars, is avoiding the four days of hearings scheduled for next week.
The complaint filed by the assistant union member of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtageimmobilier du Québec (OACIQ) last December targeted around ten videos with children, published in particular on TikTok, which had attracted the attention of the show The day (is still young) broadcast on Radio-Canada radio and host Sébastien Diaz.
Initially, the assistant union member of the OACIQ, Julie Gagnon, maintained that the broker’s publications devalued the image of the profession and the industry and that they undermined his honor and dignity, which was likely to compromise public confidence in the profession.
However, after having been rejected last December during an urgent request for a provisional suspension of the broker’s operating license pending hearings on the merits, the assistant trustee made an about-face before the four days of hearings scheduled for May 14 to 17.
The OACIQ assistant union member asked the disciplinary committee to withdraw her complaint.
“(…) the complainant alleges that as part of her preparation for the guilty hearing, she analyzed the evidence in more depth and that as a result of this analysis, she came to the conclusion that she did not will not be able to discharge its burden of proof,” it is written in the decision of the disciplinary committee.
The assistant union member also affirms that Mathieu Arseneault’s new videos suggest that he has corrected his practice and that the protection of the public is no longer in danger.
These videos, in which Mathieu Arseneault pays minors with good academic results and who say that they will use his services to buy their house later, are however still available on TikTok. But the broker has not produced others using this concept.
In December 2023, during the hearings, the committee emphasized that the Professions Tribunal had already decided that advertising in bad taste did not constitute a disciplinary offense.
In its decision on the request to withdraw a complaint, the disciplinary committee explains that once filed, the complaint belongs to it, that it alone can decide its fate and that even if the parties agree, “the Committee must ensure that the public is protected before approving or denying the removal request.”
“(…) it would be inappropriate for the Committee to force the parties to proceed when the complainant invokes her inability to discharge her burden of proof,” it is written in the document. Forcing the parties to proceed would be contraindicated and would put the Committee in a difficult position in terms of its role as an impartial decision-maker. »
Waiting for another sanction
It was not the first time that Mathieu Arseneault found himself before the tribunal of his profession.
Since obtaining his brokerage license in 2003, the broker has been the subject of 76 requests for assistance and the OACIQ has had to intervene with him on 38 occasions, including 20 times for his non-compliant advertisements and assertions. to the law. In 2021, he had to pay $5,000 in fines for contravening section 83 of the Regulation respecting the conditions for carrying out a brokerage operation, the ethics of brokers and advertising.
On January 12, Mathieu Arseneault and his partner Catherine Gosselin were found guilty by their professional order of having created false documents. Mathieu Arseneault had not met buyers or verified their identity and let his real estate broker spouse sign his name on the identity verification form. The sanction will be determined shortly.
reference: www.lapresse.ca