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The director of a now deregistered Springvale agency has been fined and issued with a decade-long ban from the industry.
The state’s consumer affairs watchdog has announced that Xuan Sang Nguyen, the director and officer in effective control at the former (and deregistered) south-east Melbourne agency SN Newtown Real Estate, has had his real estate licence cancelled for 10 years.
Consumer Affairs Victoria launched disciplinary proceedings against Nguyen in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in January 2024 after the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RBTA) raised concerns around potentially suspicious transactions.
Investigations showed that Nguyen failed to pay property owners the rent payments he was receiving on their behalf, and did not get his trust funds audited.
The Residential Tenancies Bond Authority was also unable to account for six rental bonds totalling $10,010 which were paid to Nguyen’s company as the appointed property agent.
Alongside being banned from working as an estate agent, Nguyen was also barred from working as an estate agent’s representative for 10 years, and fined the maximum penalty of $5,000.
Consumer Affairs Victoria warned real estate agents across the state that they must “comply with their trust account responsibilities or face serious legal consequences”.
Nicole Rich, director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, stressed that agents would “continue to be held to account to uphold the interests of consumers and the reputation of the industry”.
“Agents must manage their trust account accounts as a priority. If they fail to meet their trust account obligations, or other responsibilities, we will take action,” she said.
The state’s consumer body has recently taken action against other agents, including initiating Federal Court proceedings in October against a south-eastern agency for allegedly underquoting at least 11 sales.
Other states have also cracked down on agent misconduct, with an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading in Queensland leading to the recent conviction and permanent disqualification of a Sunnybank agent for trust fund misuse.
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