A Surrey, B.C., real estate agent is suing a troubled developer for $800,000 in allegedly unpaid commissions on sales of dozens of units in one of three large Metro Vancouver condominium buildings now facing receivership .

The suit – filed in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster this week – is the latest in a series of civil claims relating to projects designed by Thind Properties in Burnaby, Surrey and Richmond.

Gurmail Singh claims he struck a deal in September that would have seen him collect two percent of the purchase price for 44 units in the 327-home Highline project in Burnaby — known in the lawsuit as 6511 Sussex Heights Development Ltd.

The estate agent claims that the units were sold in the same month and that it was “only with” his efforts that “the plots were sold”.

Value “will be lost”

Singh’s lawsuit is part of a web of litigation that has emerged in recent months surrounding a number of Thind projects.

Last week, a judge placed developer District Northwest — a yet-to-be-built, two-tower, 1,023-unit complex billed as “Surrey’s new growth center” — in court after Thind allegedly fell into default on an $80 million mortgage.

At the same time, the financial backer – Kingsett Mortgage Corporation – also asked the court to appoint a receiver for two other Thind developments: the Highline project referenced in Singh’s lawsuit and Minoru Square, a 400-unit apartment building of units. looks like it’s stuck last year.

The court has yet to rule on the two requests.

The complex finances of the projects and the multiple parties involved in ownership make it difficult to assess the final impact of the proceedings.

Although Thind is the developer, the lawsuits are filed not against Thind, but against the partnerships and companies incorporated to build the individual projects.

In court documents, Thind chairman Daljit Thind – who is also a director of one of the two companies overseeing the Surrey project – claims they were close to a deal with a “joint venture partner” to refinance District Northwest when Kingsett submitted the application of judicial administration.

“At this critical time, (the companies) need additional time to secure new joint venture partners,” Thind wrote in an affidavit opposing the Surrey building administration application.

“The value/opportunity for (Thind and partners) will be lost with the appointment of an administrator.”

Presold units are not “at risk”

In the same affidavit, Thind claims that 90% of the units in the Northwest District have been presold. The court documents contain more than a dozen pages of small print with unit numbers and deposits totaling nearly $78 million, currently held in trust by a law firm.

“Despite the delay in starting construction, I do not believe the deposits for the presold units are in jeopardy as they were sold at a price that is below current market value,” Thind wrote.

Homebuyers’ finances may be safe, but in recent months a number of lawsuits have been filed against the Highline project by workers and contractors like Gurmail Singh who claim they are out of pocket.

In a complaint filed in late October, Jab Contracting claims Thind owes the company nearly $1.7 million on a more than $4.5 million contract to install steel and drywall stud systems at Highline.

Last month, a BC Supreme Court judge issued a default order of $17,071 after a crane operator filed a small claims lawsuit for work done on the Highline building. Another minor damages lawsuit filed in September over a $16,000 fire safety plan for the Highline is still pending.

The developers behind the Highline also did not respond to a lawsuit filed last April by a company seeking nearly $600,000 for “supply of electrical work and materials” for the Highline development.

“There is currently a lot of uncertainty”

Court documents outline the dangers facing developers in mortgages totaling nearly $330 million combined: $80 million for the Northwest District, $72.6 million for the Minoru Market and $176.5 million for dollars for the Highline.

Kingsett Mortgage Corporation claims that interest on the Surrey project adds up to $31,661 per day, while Highline interest adds $42,902 per day and the Richmond project costs another $24,868 per day.

In the lawsuit seeking to place the Highline and Minoru Square projects into receivership, the mortgage company also accuses developer Highline of embezzling $7.5 million in GST from the sale of units in the Burnaby building.

“Rather than remit these funds to the Canada Revenue Agency, the Highline borrower absconded with these funds and used the funds for domestic obligations, which it failed to disclose,” court documents state.

The developer has not responded to the allegation.

In his affidavit, Kingsett’s director of portfolio and loan administration, Daniel Pollack, argued that receivership of the Surrey project was needed to “ensure that the land is sold in a timely manner that secures the greatest value “.

“I have experience in the appraisal and sale of real estate,” Pollack wrote.

“Given my experience, I am concerned about uncertain interest rates, which could negatively affect land values. From my experience with the market, there is currently a lot of uncertainty in the economy and especially in the real estate market.”

Thind did not respond to an email from CBC seeking comment on the lawsuits.