The Real Estate Council of Ontario’s former chair has been referred to the provincial regulator’s disciplinary committee for alleged improper handling of trust funds at her own brokerage.
On The Block Realty Inc., a real estate brokerage founded in 2018 and based in Woodbridge, Ont., was referred to RECO’s disciplinary committee on Aug. 5, for “failing to keep trust funds separate from brokerage funds, improperly disbursing trust funds, failing to report trust account shortfalls, and failing to comply with trust account and record-keeping requirements.”
The hearing has not been held yet and the allegations have not been proven.
The co-founders of On The Block are prominent leaders in Ontario organized real estate: Kate (Katie) Steinfeld was appointed to RECO’s board of directors in 2020, and later elected chair of the board in 2023 with a re-appointment in May, 2025; her husband and co-founder Daniel Steinfeld, is currently serving as president of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, which is the largest such entity in Canada with 70,000 members.
As broker of record for On The Block, Ms. Steinfeld was separately referred to the committee for “failing to review and sign trust account reconciliations within required timelines and failing to ensure that the brokerage complied with trust account, reconciliation, and reporting requirements under the Act and regulations.”
In a statement released on Wednesday evening, Ms. Steinfeld admitted there had been “mistakes” and “errors” related to “monies being deposited inadvertently and temporarily in the wrong account,” but denied that any funds had been misappropriated.
“The amounts ranged from $442 to $7,000. In the case of the $7000, the mistake was discovered immediately and the money moved to the correct account within 24 hours,” the statement reads. “With each of the incidents cited by RECO there was never a dollar missing or misappropriated. Clients’ funds were never in jeopardy. Agents’ funds were never missing.”
In the summer and fall of 2025, she faced criticism for her oversight of RECO during the collapse of iPro Realty Inc. following a trust accounting scandal. Once one of Ontario’s largest real estate brokerages, iPro was reported in August, 2025 to have misappropriated almost $10-million in real estate trust account funds. In a deal with RECO, iPro was sold and its co-founders agreed to surrender their real estate licences, but faced no further discipline from the self-regulating industry body.
Ms. Steinfeld and RECO’s entire board directors were dismissed from their roles on Dec. 1, 2025, following the province’s appointment of special administrator Jean Lépine.
Ontario regulator shuts down iPro Realty after finding $10-million shortfall in trust accounts
Mr. Steinfeld has a background as a Chartered Professional Accountant and former vice-president of sales with the Toronto Argonauts, and was elected to his board of director seat at TRREB in 2025. While his term as President ends in 2027, TRREB typically keeps past-presidents on the board for another year.
“I’m calling for him to step aside while the investigation takes place as it’s just not a good look,” said Sandra Jackson, a veteran realtor with Royal LePage Estate Realty, in an e-mail. Ms. Jackson also runs a Facebook group of 4,600 realtors that discusses laws, rules and ethics of real estate in Ontario.
“The membership is up in arms about this. We already have to deal with the embarrassment of the mishandling of iPro; we are the ones who have to answer questions out there.”
RECO declined to comment on what it called an active compliance matter.
“TRREB is aware of this regulatory proceeding and has established governance and conflict-of-interest policies and protocols that guide the organization in matters of this nature,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele in an emailed statement. “Given RECO’s jurisdiction over this matter, it would be inappropriate for TRREB to comment further.”