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A former real estate sales representative from Baldivis has been fined for working while unregistered and fabricating documents to cover up her illegal conduct.
The Perth Magistrates Court has ordered Jayde Mia Stuart (who also uses the surname Lawrence) to pay a total of $11,091.50 after she was found to have operated without registration and submitted fabricated documents to mislead her former employer and Consumer Protection.
Stuart was fined $10,500 and convicted in her absence of three charges of breaching the Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 (WA), and was also ordered to pay $591.50 in court costs.
The court heard that Stuart – who has a criminal record that includes convictions for fraud and stealing – continued working as a property manager for almost six months after her registration lapsed in October 2022.
While unregistered, Stuart applied for a property manager position which required sales representative certification.
After being hired, Stuart failed to provide a valid registration number and upon being confronted by her new employer, presented a forged certificate bearing the signature of a former Consumer Protection Commissioner.
Stuart then contacted Consumer Protection and falsely claimed to have paid for the renewal of her registration in October 2022. When asked to provide proof of payment, she submitted a “heavily redacted” bank statement that concealed the year of transaction dated “18 Oct”, which had instead been paid in 2019.
Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Trish Blake, said that “instead of renewing her registration as required, Ms Stuart embarked on a series of deceptions”.
“This began with her employment, where she needed to provide proof of registration, and culminated in her attempting to mislead our licensing staff by doctoring a bank statement to falsely indicate payment,” Blake said.
Blake also noted that Stuart had already worked as a registered sales representative and would have known her actions were illegal.
“Our licensing system safeguards tenants and landlords by guaranteeing only competent and qualified professionals work in the Western Australian real estate industry,” she said.
The commissioner added that tenants, landlords and real estate agencies in Western Australia can find out whether the agents and sales representatives they are engaging with are licensed by using the Consumer Protection website’s online licence search feature.
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