A property manager employed by a Mandurah real estate agency has been fined $6,000 and ordered to pay $400 costs by the Mandurah Magistrates Court for taking money from the agency’s trust account for her own purposes.
Kylie Jo-Anne Thomas was convicted on 8 December 2020 of making unauthorised withdrawals from the trust account in breach of the Real Estate and Business Agents Act.
Consumer Protection is advising WA holidaymakers to carefully consider the terms and conditions of their travel bookings in relation to cancellations or postponements, with recent border openings expected to spark a travel surge particularly over the Christmas and summer holiday season.
Travellers should consider what their options might be if border closures or restrictions are re-imposed before or during their dates of travel.
An Ellenbrook real estate agency has been reprimanded and fined by the State Administrative Tribunal for employing an unregistered sales representative.
HKY Real Estate Pty Ltd was fined $7,000 while the unregistered sales representative Shane David Penny was fined $1,500, in addition to costs of $500 each for breaching the Real Estate and Business Agents Act.
WA consumers are being warned about an asbestos and demolition operator who is misleading the community, by falsely claiming to hold valid WorkSafe licences which have expired or were once held by companies that have since been liquidated.
A Perth modelling agent has been ordered to pay almost $12,000 in fines, costs and compensation by the Perth Magistrates Court for taking payments from aspiring male models but failing to deliver what he had promised.
With Black Friday sales coming up and many people doing their Christmas shopping online this year, Consumer Protection is warning consumers that scammers are out to take your money with fake retailer websites, social media pages and classified ads.
So far this year scammers have stolen a staggering $1.1 million from 418 WA victims in ‘buying and selling scams’ which, according to new figures from WA ScamNet, more than triples the losses from the whole of 2019 when 255 victims reported total losses of $319,100.
Consumer Protection is advising caution for Christmas shoppers with a wider availability of credit options including ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes and payday loans which could leave consumers drowning in debt.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen increasing use of ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes which allow shoppers to take possession of the goods straight away while paying off the purchase price in instalments.
A photographer of new-born babies was arrested and has appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court today on six charges of accepting payments from consumers but failing to supply some of the images to parents, an alleged breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
An arrest warrant was issued against Melissa Sheed of Aubin Grove after numerous attempts by Consumer Protection to serve her with a court summons failed.
Commissioner for Consumer Protection Lanie Chopping is pleased that this case is finally before the courts.
A Mount Lawley real estate agency, its supervising director and two staff members have been reprimanded by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) over the failure to lodge three tenancy bonds with the Bond Administrator as well as related irregularities found in the agency’s accounts.
The owner of a Wellard property has been fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $740 in costs for failing to lodge his tenants’ bond.
At Rockingham Magistrates Court on 26 October 2020, Anthony Gerlando Scafidi pleaded guilty to breaching the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 following a prosecution by Consumer Protection.
The law requires a security bond to be lodged with the Bond Administrator as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after receiving it. The bond is then held in trust for the duration of the tenancy.
