Asset Realty fined $80k

Mandurah Magistrates Court has hit Queensland-based property manager Asset Realty with an $80,000 fine in regards to its failure to lodge the bonds of eight local tenants.

Asset Realty was found to have not lodged the $10,480 worth of bonds from eight separate tenants within the 14 days it was legally required to, with records of their lodging then found to be neither full nor accurate.

Tenants affected by the offenses were based in Mandurah, Meadow Springs, Secret Harbour, Singleton, Baldivis, Ellenbrook and Alkimos.

Commissioner for Consumer Protection Lanie Chopping said the fine was one of the highest ever imposed in a consumer protection case, and showed how seriously the magistrate considered the offenses to be.

“Failing to lodge bonds on time is serious enough, but for a company to then have false entries in their trust account records just makes a bad situation worse,” she said.

“The huge fine imposed in this case should act as a warning to all real estate agents and property managers to lodge their bonds on time on every occasion and to ensure that their record-keeping, particularly relating to their trust accounts, is up-to-date and accurate.”