The organization representing most Lower Mainland real-estate agents has jacked up the maximum fine it can impose on its members.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver can now impose penalties of up to $30,000 for unethical practices.

The previous maximum fine was $10,000.

The news emerged shortly after the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver announced that Dan Morrison had become its president for 2016-17.

The organization represents more than 12,500 real-estate agents and companies in many Lower Mainland municipalities and up the Sea to Sky Highway.North Delta, Langley, Surrey, and White Rock are part of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

In the meantime, the industry regulator, the Real Estate Council of B.C., has appointed an advisory panel to make recommendations on how to address various controversies.

They include so-called shadow flipping and allegations that foreign buyers are not reporting proper addresses to a federal regulatory body that monitors money laundering.