Renters refunded, real estate agents prosecuted amid industry crackdown

A Canley Heights real estate agent who stole more than $100,000 from rental bonds and a client trust account is one of hundreds of agents investigated in a government crackdown on dodgy industry actors.

A Canley Heights real estate agent who stole more than $100,000 from rental bonds and a client trust account is one of hundreds of agents investigated in a government crackdown on dodgy industry actors.

Ray White Canley Heights estate agent Vanessa Nguyen was sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction order and over 180 hours of community service after scalping more than $50,000 from 25 rental bonds. She also transferred a further $50,500 from a client trust account into her personal account over 14 separate occasions.

Nguyen was found guilty of two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, at Parramatta Local Court earlier this month. She has since been forced to pay back $80,866 in compensation.

Since June last year, multiple real estate agents have been caught red handed dipping into rental bonds.

NSW Fair Trading investigations into dodgy real estate agents have ramped up since June last year and further increased after new rental reforms were passed by the Minns government in October and a new Rental Taskforce was introduced in February. Since June last year, multiple real estate agents have been caught red handed dipping into rental bonds, with many having their license to practice revoked.

Ray White Riverstone property agent Bree Callaghan was found during a Fair Trading investigation in January to have pocketed rental payments and diverted trust fund accounts into her own personal bank account, as well as cancelling property management fees. As a result her property licence was suspended, and will be prevented from obtaining one for 10 years. The action was disciplinary and not criminal in nature.

Bree Callaghan, former Ray White Riverstone property agent had her licence suspended after pocketing rental payments. Picture: Supplied

In December last year First National Parramatta colleagues Rachel Fares and Matthew Rizk were found guilty of fraud after stealing their client’s rental bond money.

Rizk was slapped with a 14-month community corrections order after misappropriating $15,400 from rental bonds.

Rizk’s colleague Fares, was found guilty for misappropriating more than $1800 as well as money laundering after she received more than $7400 under reasonable grounds that she knew the cash was the proceeds of crime.

Since the new Rental Taskforce was introduced last month, 285 matters have been dealt with, 169 cases closed and around 90 still under review.

Since June last year real estate agents have copped 145 infringement penalty notices for bad behaviour totalling more than $157,000. Additionally, there have been three criminal prosecutions for the misappropriation of funds and 17 warnings handed out.

One investigation resulted in the refund of almost $50,000 to renters after a private company was found to have incorrectly charged more than 2300 rental applicants for background checks, allegedly due to a system error.

Renters were forking out $19.95 to search public databases before the system was shut down following an investigation by the new taskforce. The NSW government outlawed landlords forcing rental applicants from paying for background checks in October last year.

Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong warned the taskforce “will catch” dodgy real estate agents. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the time for dodgy agents and companies taking advantage of renters was over.

“The significant prosecutions and punishments we are seeing for real estate agents shows that the message is clear – if you are doing the wrong thing, the Rental Taskforce will catch you and serious legal consequences will follow,” he said.

“The return of almost $50,000 in incorrect charges back to renters also demonstrates that the Minns Labor Government’s Rental Taskforce has hit the ground running doing the job it was set up to do.”

Originally published as Renters refunded, real estate agents prosecuted amid industry crackdown