Housing deposits missing leaving people owed thousands

AN upmarket real estate office in Byron Bay is under investigation after hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits allegedly went missing.

Belle Properties office in Byron

AN upmarket real estate office in Byron Bay is under investigation after hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits allegedly went missing, leaving vendors out of pocket.

The Belle Property office was shut down last week and the franchise agreement with realtor Sarah Dougan, who has denied any wrongdoing, was terminated by Belle Property Australasia chief executive Peter Hanscomb.

Mr Hanscomb said he was forced to act after it was revealed that deposit money for at least one property sold by the agent, which is by law supposed to be kept in a trust fund, had not been paid to a vendor who sold her house in April. Several other transactions are in limbo.

"We're a little in the dark and we've been spending days going through it," he said, adding that he had notified Fair Trading and sent in an internal audit.

Mr Hanscomb assured The Sunday Telegraph that vendors would receive their money but it would be the taxpayers who footed the bill, with the missing funds covered by the government's fidelity fund.

Robyn Quickenden, a local nurse, sold her Kingsley St residence for $1.6 million on April 18, but after settlement, the cheque deposit of $107,000 bounced. A second cheque also bounced - and she has yet to see the cash.

"I don't understand how a trust account cheque could be dishonoured," she said. "I still haven't got my money - $107,000 has gone missing."

Another vendor, who wished to remain anonymous, said a $100,000 deposit had not been put in their bank account.

Ms Dougan, who recently returned from an overseas trip, told The Sunday Telegraph that she could not discuss the allegations until the investigation had been completed.

"Until the matter is investigated by Fair Trading, there is not a lot that I can say," Ms Dougan said. "I deny any intentional wrongdoing."

Meanwhile, holidaymakers who booked and paid bonds for school holiday rentals through the office have been left confused and out of pocket.

Scott Carnell booked and paid for a holiday in nearby Lennox Head and was at the closed down office this week wondering what had become of his $500 bond.