The B.C. Financial Services Authority has issued a consumer alert about Matthew Kuras, the real estate licensee it has accused of operating a short-term rental fraud in Vancouver. “BCFSA has received recent complaints from property owners in the Lower Mainland alleging that Kuras is making demands for payments of additional fees and is withholding rent payments,” the consumer alert issued Thursday reads. “Kuras is not authorized to provide real estate services and BCFSA advises against making any payments to him.” Kuras’ unlicensed status appears to be a recent development. As recently as last month, he was still listed in the BCFSA’s directory as a licensed trading representative and property manager. This, despite being in the midst of a months-long legal battle with the regulator over its “order in urgent circumstances” directing him to share tax documents and other personal information, and his refusal to do so. In a news release accompanying the consumer alert Thursday, the BCFSA says Kuras’ real estate licence “was surrendered” and he was terminated by his former employer TRG – The Residential Group on May 22. According to the regulator, Kuras lost his licence and job because he was “conducting property management services under his unlicensed company, MetroVan Realty,” which does business as MetroVan Realty Property Management. It is through this company, the regulator says, that Kuras has been making his recent monetary demands. “MetroVan Realty has never been licensed to conduct real estate transactions in B.C.,” the BCFSA says in its release. Asked for further explanation about why it chose to issue a consumer alert about Kuras now, when he’s been under investigation for months, the regulator provided CTV News with a statement that elaborated, somewhat, on recent developments in the case. The BCFSA explained that Kuras had been licensed to provide property management services through TRG, and was doing so up until his firing. “The licence surrender by the brokerage occurred after BCFSA shared evidence of ongoing and noncompliant real estate activity by Kuras outside of his brokerage,” the statement reads. The regulator added that it had received “new evidence from multiple sources” regarding Kuras’ demands for “unjustified payments” to MetroVan. “This escalation raises new and increased concerns about the financial risk to consumers posed by Kuras’ ongoing activity,” the statement reads. “BCFSA’s review of his recent communications with consumers indicates he may be withholding significant rental funds and making demands for payment from those same consumers. These allegations are still under investigation and have not been tested at a hearing.” The consumer alert advises tenants to “work directly with their landlord property owners” and contact the BCFSA with any information they have about Kuras and his activities. “Any landlord clients who have engaged Kuras’ services are also advised to contact BCFSA directly,” the alert concludes. The fight over documents The underlying allegations against Kuras have not been proven. The BCFSA has accused him of the following: CTV News has been reporting on fraudulent short-term rental listings in downtown Vancouver since last September. While each case is different, the fraud’s typical pattern is as follows. A tenant signs a long-term lease on an apartment, often one that has been offered fully furnished. Rather than moving in, however, the “tenant” lists the unit on Airbnb or a similar short-term rental platform without the knowledge or consent of the property’s owner. In some of the cases CTV News has reported on, the fake tenant has had several similar listings, suggesting the scam is being run on multiple units at once, in violation of provincial regulations that limit short-term rentals to a person’s primary residence and one secondary suite on the same lot. The BCFSA is not responsible for enforcing provincial short-term rental rules. Rather, it has been investigating Kuras for what it sees as contraventions of the provincial Real Estate Services Act and associated regulations, particularly those regarding conduct unbecoming of a licensee. Kuras may also have committed professional misconduct through his failure to co-operate with the investigation of his alleged fraud, according to the BCFSA. The regulator imposed $27,000 in administrative penalties on Kuras in November 2025 over his refusal to provide documents sought by BCFSA investigators. The BCFSA has ordered Kuras to hand over the documents in question, but he has fought that order in the B.C. Financial Services Tribunal and sought a judicial review in B.C. Supreme Court. The regulator held a hearing in March to determine whether Kuras’ failure to provide the documents amounts to professional misconduct. A liability decision following the hearing has not yet been issued.
