Condos, crime and calling it quits.

Are you bored of sifting though the MLS looking for condo bargains to flip? Do you ever wish the condo market in Vancouver was a bit more like a television court-room drama with charismatic con-men and lavish life styles? Anyone who thinks that the real-estate market in the lower mainland is lacking in excitement or colourful characters ought to check out this article in todays Vancouver Sun.

A partnership between two men with checkered business backgrounds who are developing several high-profile condo projects in downtown Vancouver, Surrey and Richmond has dissolved in acrimony and litigation.

One of the partners, George Dengin, has sued the other, Mark Chandler, in B.C. Supreme Court for allegedly misrepresenting the status of the projects and failing to account for the sale of dozens of units.

Dengin's lawsuit is supported by an affidavit filed by Vancouver real estate marketing whiz Bob Rennie, who introduced Dengin to Chandler in 2003 and was subsequently hired by the partnership to sell the projects.

The Partnership of Dengin & Chandler was responsible for the following properties:

• Hamlin Mews, a 21-unit townhouse project at 37th and Oak;
• Tribeca, a 52-unit condo project at Richards and Nelson;
• H+H, a 22-story condo tower at Homer and Helmcken;
• Anndale, a shopping centre on a 16-acre property in Surrey;
• Richards Street, various lots including the present site of Richards on Richards nightclub;
• Eldorado, the present site of the Eldorado Hotel on Kingsway;
• Garden City, two mixed-use towers in Richmond.

Incidentally Bob Rennie is supporting the partner that had his stockbroker license revoked for serious trading infractions in 1987, NOT the partner that was indicted in Arizona on 13 charges of fraud, theft and forgery in 2000.