Inner-city estate agency Charter Lane Pty Ltd (ACN: 617570162) and its Director, Hakan (Hayden) Ali, have been found to have failed to meet their trust account responsibilities over a five-year period.
Ali, 57, of Greenvale, was the Officer In Effective Control of the company when it failed to submit annual audit reports between the 2017 and 2022 financial years.
Ali and Charter Lane failed to meet their obligations despite receiving reminders, a warning and infringement notices.
Our investigators contacted the agency and Ali 12 times between July 2018 and September 2021. Ali continued to assure us that he would provide the audits and required trust money payment records, but failed to do so.
VCAT issued orders by consent in our disciplinary proceedings, finding that Ali and Charter Lane had failed to:
- submit annual audits
- record trust account payments; and
- exercise all due skill, care and diligence.
The agency and Ali were also found to have engaged in conduct that was unprofessional or detrimental to the reputation or interests of the estate agency industry.
Estate agents must ensure their client trust accounts are audited within the three months after 30 June each year.
VCAT ordered that:
- Ali and Charter Lane be reprimanded
- they each pay a $1250 fine
- Ali undertake further study in managing a real estate agency business, and working with trust accounts
- Ali’s licence be suspended, if he or the agency fail to have Charter Lane’s trust account audited each financial year until 2028; and
- they engage an independent third party to maintain the agency’s trust accounting records until 2028.
Mr Ali and Charter Lane’s licences will be immediately suspended for 12 months if they fail to meet the order's trust account directions.
Consumer Affairs Victoria Director Nicole Rich said her agency would continue to focus on agents’ trust account management.
‘Managing trust accounts is a pivotal professional responsibility for agents. They must understand their legal obligations – ignorance is not an excuse for failing to meet them,’ Rich said.
‘Trust account irregularities can also be a signal of deeper failures within an estate agency, so those who fail to meet their trust account obligations can expect Consumer Affairs Victoria to apply a greater level of scrutiny to their business.’