Vancouver city council candidate and licensed realtor Morning Lee is defending his online video on eviction processes that calls on property owners to defecate in their tenanted home to “assert ownership.”
Lee is a high-profile realtor in Vancouver who ran unsuccessfully for council in 2018 and is currently on the NPA Vancouver slate with mayoral candidate Fred Harding and incumbent council member Melissa De Genova.
Lee’s YouTube video titled “How to evict bad tenants during the pandemic with ease. My personal experience. All landlords must watch” (translated) was posted on Nov. 24, 2021 and was re-discovered on an online forum this week.
Among his professional advice on the eviction process given in the video, Lee suggests an owner dealing with a malicious, bad tenant may wish to defecate in a bathroom to “assert ownership” and that real estate agents could pretend to be prospective buyers to gain access to the home.
When asked by Glacier Media about his advice for landlords in those extreme circumstances, Lee said: “It’s my job, and it’s my business, to give advice and suggestions to people for a situation, either tenant or landlord; I can give a suggestion on how to handle a tough situation.”
Glacier Media asked him what he meant by explicitly encouraging landlords to use the bathroom in tenanted homes.
“I cannot remember what I said exactly, but I suggest that they can use the washroom if they get permission from the tenant. And they have the right," said Lee.
“Some people, they don’t know what they can do or cannot do.”
Asked how using the bathroom is relevant in such a situation, Lee responded: “OK, it’s just a joking word and just use the bathroom... It’s not illegal advice.”
When asked to clarify his comments about a realtor pretending to be a buyer, Lee said he has never acted under false pretenses.
“I am a buyer. I buy all the time, so how come I am pretending to be a buyer? Anyone could be a potential buyer, so there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Lee.
Real estate professionals are governed by a code of ethics and regulated by the B.C. Financial Services Authority.
