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A real estate agent was fined $4,500
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She stole a tenant’s bond to pay her own
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READ MORE: Investigation reveals top real estate agent’s in fall from grace
A former real estate agent has been fined $4,500 for stealing money from her employer to pay her own bond and outstanding rent.
Western Australian agent Dianne Sandra Huggins proved not even those working in the property sector are safe from the country’s severe housing crisis.
Consumer Protection WA heard Huggins was living in a rental property in Mandurah on
Perth
‘s southern fringe which was managed by her employer but her landlord decided to switch to another agency.
Having not paid her $1587.20 bond and still owing rent, the real estate agent took $2,700 from the agency’s trust fund to cover her debts.
That money had originally been paid as bond and rent by another renter on a property managed by the company.
A subsequent audit of the agency’s trust fund quickly revealed $2,700 was missing, prompting an internal investigation.
When confronted by the agency, Huggins submitted a fake bank receipt showing her husband had paid $2,700 to the agency for their bond and rent.
However, she later admitted to creating the document by altering a pre-existing receipt to cover-up her theft.
Huggins resigned from the agency and $2,700 was deducted from her final paycheck to make up for the lost funds.
The State Administrative Tribunal fined Huggins $4,500 on April 9 for making unauthorised withdrawals from the trust account and acting dishonestly.
Between being fined and deregistered by the tribunal, Huggins was hired by real estate agency, H&N Perry, and did not inform them about the legal matter.
Director Frank Lawrence felt let down by the regulator.
‘It’s disappointing that the Department of Mining Industry Regulation and Safety allowed her to continue to work without providing any notification to her existing employers of the impending investigation into her,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Our systems are such that she had no access to receipting and she had no access to tenants’ or owners’ funds, fortunately.
‘The offences she committed occurred prior to her employment here.’
Mr Lawrence said Ms Huggins had been dismissed from H&N Perry and would be required to apply for a new licence should she wish to be a real estate agent again.
Mr Lawrence called for the regulator to better inform employers of agents’ history.
‘We are disappointed with the regulators for putting our clients, and potentially our business, at risk,’ he said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.
WA Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Trish Blake, said Huggins’ conduct ‘undermined the community’s trust in the real estate industry’.
‘Knowing full well the unpaid bond would be discovered by the new managing agency, she engaged in a series of deceptive acts, including misappropriating another tenant’s funds and forging a bank receipt,’ she said.
‘Real estate agencies hold substantial sums of money in trust for tenants and property owners, necessitating strict regulatory compliance and routine audits of these accounts.
‘Making unauthorised withdrawals from real estate trust funds is a serious offence, and sales representatives or agents who engage in such misconduct will be subject to legal consequences.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Huggins and the WA Department of Mining Industry Regulation and Safety for comment.
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