Estate agents guilty in WA fair trading charges
The Perth Magistrates Court has found Westpoint Realty P/L (in liquidation) its director Norman Phillip Carey guilty of five charges of breaching the Fair Trading Act in relation to the sale of property in Rivervale in 2005.
The court imposed a $30,000 fine on the company and Mr Carey a $6000 fine and ordered him to pay costs of $97,449 for making false or misleading representations to consumers.
While handing down his decision on 12 March 2015, Magistrate Malone denied Mr Carey’s application for a spent conviction.
The original trial found that the company, via its agents, misled purchasers of units in the Regent Apartments development by falsely informing them that there had been indefinite delays to the project due to planning approvals. The agents caused purchasers to terminate their contracts of sale, then each of the units were re-sold at a higher price within a short period of time.
Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll (pictured) said, “Despite Mr Carey’s numerous appeals against the original convictions, our pursuit and defence of this matter has been vindicated by the substantial penalty handed down by the magistrate and the awarding of our significant legal costs.”
Two former Westpoint Realty P/L sales representatives pleaded guilty to related charges in September 2010, were fined $2000 and $750 respectively and granted spent convictions. A third sales representativepleaded guilty in December 2010, was fined $1000 and ordered to pay court costs of $1180.
In another case, a Victoria Park real estate agent has been fined $3500 and disqualified from holding a licence and triennial certificate for 18 months by the State Administrative Tribunal (on 11 March 2015) after making illegal withdrawals from the agency’s trust account. Tracey Leanne Wilson, a former director and employee of a Victoria Park real estate agency, faced disciplinary action by Consumer Protection after transferring $2185 from the agency’s trust account to a ‘suspense account’ in January 2014 and then transferring the funds to her personal bank account in May 2014.
The money was deducted from the property management account relating to four apartments in South Perth which the agency had managed until their contract with the owners was terminated in November 2013.
Ms Driscoll warns those in charge of real estate trust accounts not to act as judge and jury and to allow the court to resolve any contract or financial disputes. “The laws covering the handling of trust account moneys should not be flouted by agents or property managers. Owners expect complete honesty and a high standard of integrity when they place the management of their properties in the hands of a property manager, so that trust should not be abused,” Ms Driscoll said.
In a third decision, a property manager working for a Shenton Park real estate agency has been banned permanently from working in the industry and fined $20,000 for making illegal withdrawals from the agency’s trust account.
Jenelle Lee Maslin made 14 unauthorised withdrawals from the agency’s trust account amounting to almost $30,000 between January 2012 and August 2013. The money, mostly bond and rent payments from tenants, was illegally withdrawn from the agency’s trust account and then deposited into her personal bank account, in breach of the Real Estate and Business Agents Act.
On 6 March 2015, the Perth Magistrates Court imposed a $20,000 fine and ordered Ms Maslin to pay costs of $902. A criminal conviction has been recorded against her.
On 10 March 2015, the State Administrative Tribunal issued an official reprimand, cancelled Ms Maslin’s registration as a sales representative and placed a permanent ban on her obtaining a registration in the future.
