More than $51,000 in fines have been issued to real estate agents in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, following a Fair Trading compliance blitz.
Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said the blitz was launched after intelligence was received that a number of agents were not complying with the law.
"Fair Trading visited 32 real estate agencies across the Eastern Suburbs, including Botany, Mascot, Bondi, Bondi Junction, Kingsford and Maroubra," Mr Kean said.
"Shockingly, 20 of those were found to be non-compliant, with most of the breaches related to agents not properly understanding the responsibilities of their position."
A total of 47 penalty infringement notices (PINs) were issued during the blitz. Sixteen of those were issued to agents who didn’t understand their responsibilities under the legislation. For example weren’t familiar with trust accounting requirements.
Four PINs were issued to agents who didn’t exercise care or diligence, such as not signing or completing agency agreements, and two were issued to agents for deficient condition reports. Fair Trading is considering taking further action against two agents.
Mr Kean said it highlighted gaps in professional development and raised further concerns about the training of organisations such as REINSW.
"These compliance operations are an example of the great work Fair Trading is doing, and why it should be supported in improving industry standards," Mr Kean said.
"I will always stand up for consumers and small businesses who are doing the right thing."
