Re/Max has dropped Calgary’s Re/Max Central, among the city’s best-known brokerages, owned by longtime Realtor Pat Hare, amid allegations surrounding the multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme run by a former employee.~
The brokerage was the employer of former Realtor Eric Drinkwater, who is charged with $1.9-million in alleged fraud.
He is the nephew of Hare, who has been a Re/Max realtor for more than 40 years.
“We can confirm that the independently-owned and operated Re/Max Real Estate (Central) in Calgary, Alberta, has been terminated from the Re/Max network and its owners are no longer affiliated with the Re/Max brand,” said a company statement.
“The Re/Max network shares and honours a commitment to professionalism, integrity and honesty. The goal is not simply to meet minimum requirements of applicable laws, regulations and professional standards, but to aspire to even higher levels of professionalism.”
RECA’s response
Drinkwater appeared before a disciplinary panel last week of the Real Estate Council of Alberta. He has been suspended since June 2024 and faces a lifetime ban from the regulator.
Hare remains actively licensed.
RECA declined to confirm whether Hare is being investigated.
“RECA has a legislated process that we follow. As the regulator, we must ensure that our actions don’t impact the independent hearing or jeopardize victims’ rights,” it said.
“Until the independent hearing panel issues its decision, we remain limited in what we can say.”
What happened
The scheme is believed to have occurred between March 2020 and February 2024.
During the RECA hearing, Drinkwater admitted to falsifying bridge loans for non-existent real estate transactions that he claimed were taking place through his former employer, Re/Max Central.
In reality, no such transactions existed, and the documents he provided to support the scheme were forgeries.
Courtney Zwicker is a digital reporter and associate editor for REM. Based in Atlantic Canada, she has over a decade of experience covering daily business news.
Wise decision from Re/Max Canada. These types of white collar crimes continue to erode the consumers trust in our industry. The actions of few make us all look bad by association. I hope the investigation is thorough, and the penalties serve as an example to discourage future criminals.
I am not sure what assumptions you are under but people don’t like realtors. At least anyone I have talked to. You take 1-3% of a home sale for doing maybe two days of work. No other industry pays so much for so little and you can be replaced by lawyers for a fraction of the price. I hope the entire industry collapses and people can just fill out the MLS on their own. Never met a person who found a home through a realtor, you must have to be extremely rich for that. You can keep charging them a ton, I just hope the rest of us can get a better deal
Since you’re with Royal LePage Jim, it is ironic that what “eroded the consumers trust in our industry” is when Royal LePage Foothills, a Calgary-based real estate brokerage, announced the closure of all six of its southern Alberta offices on December 14, 2015, due to financial difficulties. The brokerage was owned and operated by Ted Zaharko, a veteran in the Alberta real estate industry with over 35 years of experience.
The regulators need to come down heavily on these fraudsters as people are already hard pressed seeing the non affordability of real estate as everybody needs a roof above his/her head
Oh sounds like we have an Industry expert in Thomas. I’m just curious if it’s so easy and we’re so overpaid.Why aren’t you doing it?
Usually someone who slams Realtors do not own a home.
You can see Thomas Martin thinks the buyer pays the Realtor Commission.
The reason he never mealt anyone buying a home from a realtor is he has not successful friends that are home owners.
Being a Realtor means running a business.
Most new Realtors miss kids hockey games and birthdays and even anniversaries to do a transaction.
This is not a 9 to 5 industry with weekends off.
@ Thomas Martin- hoping the collapse of an industry is truly an ignorant desire. MLS is owned by That same industry and if you wanted to pay a flat fee there are many options. If you think the system itself is unnecessary, then build one yourself and rebuild the database of properties that have transacted through it…I guess you can’t. You also fail to realize that this is one of the riskiest businesses out there…many realtors do the work and the client fails to close…they don’t get paid! You should look into this or talk to a realtor before damning so many people…
Having retired as a realtor of44 years five years ago, I observe these comments with both understanding and bemusement. We just put the sold sign on our own home. It is time to downsize to a senior’s apartment. I had the skills to sell the property and save the commission so why didn’t I? Because I value the skill set an experienced realtor brings to the table. We are in a bizarre real estate market. With the tariff war buyers are paralyzed and there are very few showings.with spring’s arrival we could see a flood of new listings that could easily cause prices to plummet. We needed to sell and sell quickly to qualified purchasers. And we did. Thanks to the advice of our realtor:
Consider that the money clock starts ticking when you sit down with virtually every other professional,even home stagers as well as lawyers:. Only the realtor says pay me only if and whenthejobis done. If they do the job quickly and expertly why would you complain. Do you want to pay more if your home sits on the market for six months?
I dated Vanessa way back in the day before she was married to Eric, sad for her as she is a good person.
It’s unsettling to see such a longstanding name caught in controversy, but commendable that Re/Max acted swiftly to uphold its values.
This serves as a powerful reminder that trust and integrity are everything in real estate — and one misstep can shake decades of reputation.
I have been a realtor for just under 50 years and still work hard at selling real estate , I worked for Remax for many years and found most of the realtors were honest and hardworking, I know the players involved and before I make a negative comment I will wait until I hear the full story.
Bev Pat Hare will get what he deserves.