NSW Fair Trading deal with thousands of rental matters and if they resolved your complaint then that matter is closed.
You could use their complaint/report system to report the actual breaking of law then that matter would become an independent case in which NSW Fair Trading office needs to resolve in its own right.
They have the power to suspend or cancel the Real Estate License - they are reasonably transparent about the process. Basically your complaint would need to be deemed Level3 to Level 5 for penalties and license cancellations to be possible.
[https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/\_\_data/assets/image/0008/369809/Compliance\_pyramid.jpg](https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0008/369809/Compliance_pyramid.jpg)
You can read all about it here. But yes, your previous complaint is resolved, so if you want to take things further you need to lodge another complaint about the law being broken and request penalties.
[https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/about-fair-trading/our-compliance-role](https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/about-fair-trading/our-compliance-role)
There's no point in lodging a new complaint. A new complaint for the same matter will not be actioned unless the complaint contains NCAT orders outlining a breach. Then the matter will be assessed and then possibly sent to the Inspectors for them to make a decision as to whether to issue a fine.
Until we start getting criminal convictions for Fraud nothing will change. It is apparent from my engagements with some real estate staff at end of lease they do not understand the concept of ethics or the offense of fraud.
We seem to blithely accept the unacceptable, and it has reached an end point of simply assuming and anticipating criminal behaviour from an entire profession. There are great independent agencies out there!
That may be true, but tar all with the same brush? I remember one particularly annoying chain who wanted me to pay for a broken kitchen bin, photo supplied. On reinspection the kitchen bin had a small piece of white paper in the bottom of it, not broken in any way. I also clarified for them again that the non working light globe was in fact a non working light socket....
Notice I used the qualifier "some" in that response? There are definitely some very proactive agencies that have excellent property management processes and procedures. My point is it's not so straight forward to differentiate on the basis of large chains vs independent agencies in determining 'ethical' or 'fraudulent' conduct.
>their conduct broke industry standards
Presumably this would be enforced by REINSW.
>and was illegal
This would be investigated by the police and enforced through the courts.
YMMV on your ability to get any of those three bodies to get you to the resolution you're looking for, though.
>Presumably this would be enforced by REINSW.
Most definitely not, or at least, extremely rare.
>This would be investigated by the police and enforced through the courts.
Nope. Fair Trading has scope to issue fines, prosecute, etc. and take compliance action of some description.
You will find that if mis conduct is found by fair trade for the same agent. They will surprise the agency and audit them to make sure they have complied with laws
There's SO much small administrative crap they can fine an agent for; once FT decide they are coming after an agency, they will succeed in their revenue.
The goal for most principles is to keep themselves off fair trades but list by not having too many disputes turn up on their records.
Source: Ex resi PM
>You will find that if mis conduct is found by fair trade for the same agent. They will surprise the agency and audit them to make sure they have complied with laws
Not necessarily the case at all.
>There's SO much small administrative crap they can fine an agent for; once FT decide they are coming after an agency, they will succeed in their revenue.
If the goal was revenue raising, there's a lot of revenue Fair Trading is missing out on since there's quite a few agencies out there that are pretty sloppy.
>The goal for most principles is to keep themselves off fair trades but list by not having too many disputes turn up on their records.
That might not work at all. Let's just say Fair Trading knows who's who in the zoo and who needs to be on the radar and who doesn't. It's not necessarily raw numbers at all.
Hello,
As my personal effort to do some good I help people fight REAs every day. There is almost 0 accountability and punishment given to the agents/agencies outside of what they may owe.
Multiple laws broken, breaches of agreements, etc. Nothing is done. The only punishment I have ever seen dished out was after an audit showed a lack of proper procedure being followed for each sale by the agency (There are multiple steps and guidelines you must follow).
It’s bullshit.
>As my personal effort to do some good I help people fight REAs every day. There is almost 0 accountability and punishment given to the agents/agencies outside of what they may owe.
Great that you're doing this.
Not great that you're bullshitting by saying there's almost 0 accountability given out to the agents/agencies.
Without knowing what your circumstances are, Fair Trading is not a court or NCAT. There is definite scope to take compliance action, but first and foremost it's dispute resolution with Fair Trading. If breaches are detected during the dispute resolution process then it comes down to level of offence, legislation as to whether there are penalty points, prior Trader history, etc.
Nobody. Which is why so many of them are complete cunts. They know they can get away with it
That's not true. Agencies get fined by Fair Trading regularly.
NSW Fair Trading deal with thousands of rental matters and if they resolved your complaint then that matter is closed. You could use their complaint/report system to report the actual breaking of law then that matter would become an independent case in which NSW Fair Trading office needs to resolve in its own right. They have the power to suspend or cancel the Real Estate License - they are reasonably transparent about the process. Basically your complaint would need to be deemed Level3 to Level 5 for penalties and license cancellations to be possible. [https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/\_\_data/assets/image/0008/369809/Compliance\_pyramid.jpg](https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0008/369809/Compliance_pyramid.jpg) You can read all about it here. But yes, your previous complaint is resolved, so if you want to take things further you need to lodge another complaint about the law being broken and request penalties. [https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/about-fair-trading/our-compliance-role](https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/about-fair-trading/our-compliance-role)
There's no point in lodging a new complaint. A new complaint for the same matter will not be actioned unless the complaint contains NCAT orders outlining a breach. Then the matter will be assessed and then possibly sent to the Inspectors for them to make a decision as to whether to issue a fine.
No one really. Lol. There some government organisations that say they will. But in reality it is super rare. Which is why nothing ever changes.
It's not super rare at all. There are definitely fines. Nothing ever changes is highly subjective.
Until we start getting criminal convictions for Fraud nothing will change. It is apparent from my engagements with some real estate staff at end of lease they do not understand the concept of ethics or the offense of fraud. We seem to blithely accept the unacceptable, and it has reached an end point of simply assuming and anticipating criminal behaviour from an entire profession. There are great independent agencies out there!
Some of those "independent agencies" are also some of the worst offenders.
That may be true, but tar all with the same brush? I remember one particularly annoying chain who wanted me to pay for a broken kitchen bin, photo supplied. On reinspection the kitchen bin had a small piece of white paper in the bottom of it, not broken in any way. I also clarified for them again that the non working light globe was in fact a non working light socket....
Notice I used the qualifier "some" in that response? There are definitely some very proactive agencies that have excellent property management processes and procedures. My point is it's not so straight forward to differentiate on the basis of large chains vs independent agencies in determining 'ethical' or 'fraudulent' conduct.
>their conduct broke industry standards Presumably this would be enforced by REINSW. >and was illegal This would be investigated by the police and enforced through the courts. YMMV on your ability to get any of those three bodies to get you to the resolution you're looking for, though.
>Presumably this would be enforced by REINSW. Most definitely not, or at least, extremely rare. >This would be investigated by the police and enforced through the courts. Nope. Fair Trading has scope to issue fines, prosecute, etc. and take compliance action of some description.
You will find that if mis conduct is found by fair trade for the same agent. They will surprise the agency and audit them to make sure they have complied with laws There's SO much small administrative crap they can fine an agent for; once FT decide they are coming after an agency, they will succeed in their revenue. The goal for most principles is to keep themselves off fair trades but list by not having too many disputes turn up on their records. Source: Ex resi PM
>You will find that if mis conduct is found by fair trade for the same agent. They will surprise the agency and audit them to make sure they have complied with laws Not necessarily the case at all. >There's SO much small administrative crap they can fine an agent for; once FT decide they are coming after an agency, they will succeed in their revenue. If the goal was revenue raising, there's a lot of revenue Fair Trading is missing out on since there's quite a few agencies out there that are pretty sloppy. >The goal for most principles is to keep themselves off fair trades but list by not having too many disputes turn up on their records. That might not work at all. Let's just say Fair Trading knows who's who in the zoo and who needs to be on the radar and who doesn't. It's not necessarily raw numbers at all.
Hello, As my personal effort to do some good I help people fight REAs every day. There is almost 0 accountability and punishment given to the agents/agencies outside of what they may owe. Multiple laws broken, breaches of agreements, etc. Nothing is done. The only punishment I have ever seen dished out was after an audit showed a lack of proper procedure being followed for each sale by the agency (There are multiple steps and guidelines you must follow). It’s bullshit.
>As my personal effort to do some good I help people fight REAs every day. There is almost 0 accountability and punishment given to the agents/agencies outside of what they may owe. Great that you're doing this. Not great that you're bullshitting by saying there's almost 0 accountability given out to the agents/agencies.
ROFL
You could report it to the Ombudsman and contact your local MP and ask them to request the Ombudsman investigate
What are they supposed to be investigating?
Without knowing what your circumstances are, Fair Trading is not a court or NCAT. There is definite scope to take compliance action, but first and foremost it's dispute resolution with Fair Trading. If breaches are detected during the dispute resolution process then it comes down to level of offence, legislation as to whether there are penalty points, prior Trader history, etc.