Mar 16, 2026
If you’re currently looking to refinance your mortgage or consolidate debt, Randee Solomon’s story is a cautionary tale. In the world of Canadian personal finance, we often talk about interest rates and amortization periods, but we don't talk enough about the gatekeepers of those deals.
Solomon, a resident of Scarborough, ON, recently shared a devastating story with CTV News (1) that serves as a massive red flag for all of us. Solomon was trying to do the right thing for her family. About two years ago, while her father was facing health struggles, she fell behind on her mortgage payments. To save her family home, she managed to pull together $85,000 to put toward her mortgage.
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She handed a bank draft for that entire amount to a woman she believed was a licensed professional. Instead of the money hitting her mortgage balance, the cheque was cashed and the funds vanished.
"The money didn’t go where it was supposed to go and that’s a lot of money," Solomon told CTV News.
The person Solomon dealt with for the transaction was Dianne Van Rossum. After the money disappeared, Solomon contacted the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) only to discover that Van Rossum was not actually licensed to conduct mortgage business in the province.
Now, Solomon is facing the exact nightmare she tried to prevent.
"I’m mustering through. But the situation is the same, my home is up for foreclosure," Solomon said.
How to protect your equity
This story is heartbreaking because it involves a total breach of trust. When we hire a professional, we assume there is a regulatory safety net under us. But in Ontario, and across Canada, you have to verify that the net actually exists before you jump.
The FSRA has since issued an explicit warning about Van Rossum, noting that she has been accepting funds without depositing them to process mortgages. This is an important lesson for all Canadians: never take a person’s word regarding their professional status, especially when you are entrusting your money to them.
In Ontario, mortgage brokers, agents and even the brokerages must be licensed by the FSRA. This licensing ensures they follow specific conduct rules and carry errors and omissions insurance. If you are working with someone unlicensed, you have zero protection if things go sideways.
Verify before you sign
Before you hand over a single document or dollar, you need to do your homework. Gina Stephens, the director of mortgage broker conduct with FSRA, suggests a proactive approach.
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"I would encourage consumers to ask a lot of questions of the mortgage brokers they are working with as mortgages are not easy products," Stephens told CTV News.
You can verify a person's standing in seconds. The FSRA maintains a public database where you can search by a person's name, their license number or their brokerage's name.
"I would also check our enforcement database to make sure the brokerage doesn’t have any actions taken by FSRA against them," Stephens explained.
Red flags to watch for
If a broker asks you to make a bank draft out to them personally or to a company name you can't find in the provincial registry, stop immediately. Legitimate mortgage transactions generally involve funds going to a law firm's in-trust account or directly to a recognized financial institution.
Solomon’s experience is a reminder that even when we are stressed by family health issues or financial strain, we have to stay vigilant.
"When I found out the money didn’t go to the right place, I felt betrayed, I felt angry. I felt like she didn’t do the job she was paid to do," Solomon said.
Don't let a fraudster turn a difficult financial period into a total loss. Check the FSRA website, ask for license numbers and never feel pressured to move faster than your due diligence allows.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
CTV News (1)
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Leslie Kennedy served as an editor at Thomson Reuters and for Star Media Group, followed by a number of years as a writer and editor and content manager in marketing communications, before returning to her editorial roots. She is a graduate of Humber College’s post-graduate journalism program and has been a professional writer and editor ever since.
