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.

Mr Penny held a certificate of registration as a real estate sales representative when he began working for the agency in May 2012, but the registration lapsed in September 2013 and wasn’t renewed until November 2018. During the unregistered period of five years and three months, Mr Penny was involved in more than 100 transactions and continued to carry out the duties of a sales representative.

Mr Penny is now registered and continues to work for the agency. In its defence, the agency stated that it wasn’t aware that Mr Penny did not hold a registration for that period of time.

Commissioner for Consumer Protection Lanie Chopping said real estate agents must ensure that relevant staff are appropriately registered at all times.

“Agents need to make periodical checks to ensure that their sales representatives are registered, or take note of expiry dates and confirm that the registrations have been renewed,” Ms Chopping said.

“Otherwise, they increase the risk of being liable if one of their staff fails to do the right thing and, as in this case, they will face disciplinary action and suffer a financial penalty.”

More information on the obligations of real estate agents, sales representatives and property managers is available on the Consumer Protection website or enquiries can be made by email consumer@dmirs.wa.gov.au or by calling 1300 30 40 54.

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Media Contact: Alan Hynd, (08) 6552 9248 / 0429 078 791 / alan.hynd@dmirs.wa.gov.au