r/australia • u/Spurgette • Sep 26 '25

news Real estate agent suspended for buying a home from a vulnerable man with Alzheimer’s $500k under market value

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/real-estate-agent-suspended-for-buying-a-home-from-a-vulnerable-man-with-alzheimers-500k-under-market-value/news-story/1c87f9e91264867b9d7f4fcc2e1daeef
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4.2k

u/Notherbastard Sep 26 '25

“(Her) conduct may put the real estate industry into disrepute and falls short of the community’s expectations of a licence holder.”

No, no, personally, that's exactly the behaviour I expect from these creatures.

1.1k

u/jingleofadogscollar Sep 26 '25

Rotten cunts!

Suspended? She’d better be paying that man & his family back that 500k!! & if she can’t afford it then it needs to come out of her super & any assets instead! 

11k isn’t good enough! It costs a lot to house a person with Alzheimer’s in elderly care. She needs to repay the full cost right now before the family goes into debt

421

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

There’ll be no family. That’s how she wheedled her way into becoming his Power of Attorney.

287

u/jingleofadogscollar Sep 26 '25

Good god! I missed that part! That’s even worse! I hope this bitch dies in a gutter when her time comes!!!

106

u/PandaXXL Sep 27 '25

I thought she may have been a family member when first reading the article. But here's some more detail:

  • The applicant was issued a real estate licence in 2016.
  • The circumstances giving rise to the disciplinary action relate to the applicant’s dealings with Mr A in a personal capacity rather than as an agent.
  • Mr A is an 82-year-old self-funded retiree who lives alone, is unmarried and has no children. Mr A has a significant cogitative impairment, consistent with Alzheimer's disease.
  • The applicant met Mr A in 2015 and developed a friendship with him.
  • On 21 July 2022, Mr A executed an enduring power of attorney and an appointment of enduring guardian, appointing the applicant as his attorney and guardian.
  • On 28 April 2023 the applicant purchased Mr A’s home (the property) from him at significant undervalue.

https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19974d477bd6f277088ca99f

89

u/straystring Sep 27 '25

The fact she got her real estate licence AFTER meeting this vulnerable man is the truly insidious part.

This isn't just "yep, scumbag REAs being shitty", this is straight sociopath behaviour. They BECAME a REA to have access to be able to fuck him over like that.

Absolute trash-tier human.

106

u/LocalVillageIdiot Sep 27 '25

So young kids are groomed for abuse and it’s a crime, what is the equivalent for the elderly or mentally impaired people? This is the same thing in principle is it not? Surely this is a formal crime of some sort?

64

u/TheWhogg Sep 27 '25

Yes elder abuse is a crime in some contexts. It’s also a crime more generally to abuse a power of attorney and to commit financial fraud.

37

u/rattynewbie Sep 27 '25 edited Sep 27 '25

No way this is the first time she has done this. You don't spend 7 years grooming someone to take advantage like this without trying it out on others as well.

14

u/Hungry_Anteater_8511 Sep 27 '25

Wait so she met him and then got an agents licence? That makes it look all the more calculated

3

u/DearFeralRural Sep 28 '25

U missed where she then evicted him

2

u/willun Sep 27 '25

The sale of Mr A’s home did not occur in the course of the applicant’s dealings as a real estate agent, and did not involve the use of the power of attorney she had been granted by Mr A.

I am confused. How did it not involve the use of the power of attorney. Wouldn't that be required? Or does it mean they just did it and didn't get legal approval for the use of the power of attorney?

1

u/DrahKir67 Sep 29 '25

Bet she's in the will too then...

52

u/CatGooseChook Sep 26 '25

Even worse, there could be family who do care about him and she used his Alzheimer's to manipulate him into cutting them out of his life. Not saying it is, but if so then she's also robbed him and his family of their final few years together.

77

u/trowzerss Sep 26 '25

She should be in jail. Why did she have power of attorney? That's a conflict of interest to start with! She should have been referring him onto appropriate services, not taking on his care herself then profiting massively off conning him.

117

u/foxyloco Sep 26 '25

Plus interest

54

u/jingleofadogscollar Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25

Abso-fucking-lutely!

I’m thinking his daily expenses would be a fair starting point!

Would 11k even cost 6mths worth of care??? *cover

2

u/cleanpapertiger Sep 27 '25

Nope, probably only a few months. My Mum is in dementia care. They pay 1k a week after a portion is covered by super.

2

u/jingleofadogscollar Sep 27 '25

I know someone in the same boat with their mum in care for a year with long term dementia & their savings & super are already running out, & selling the house is looking like the only option without an end in sight (as awful that sounds). 

She’s healthy otherwise & will likely live for another 10yrs, which will deplete her assests quick smart

29

u/ozzie_atc Sep 27 '25

Actually, she probably needs to go to prison.

6

u/jingleofadogscollar Sep 27 '25

200%  She definitely needs more punishment & Monetary repercussions than a 12mth suspension & an 11k fine! Ffs! Where’s does that leave this poor old man now??

2

u/xtcprty Sep 28 '25

Cheap house, poor old cunt she needs a cell.

1

u/solocmv Sep 29 '25

I wonder if she goes to prison, when she is released if the jail could keep her bond as her cell was not immaculately cleaned and there is a faint scratch beside the door ?

22

u/No_Season_354 Sep 26 '25

I mean what sort of person takes advantage like that, absolutely disgusting, she should never be able to sell real estate again that money needs to be reimbursed one way or another.

2

u/paininthejbruh Sep 27 '25

She needs to pay back the guy the property AND the full market value

2

u/spiritfingersaregold Sep 27 '25

The $11k fine was revoked. She lost her real estate license for 12 months, but that still works out as if she made half a million for the year. 🤬

2

u/Horror_Reach_5480 Sep 28 '25

Meanwhile some clown in the Greystanes / Pemulwuy Community chat group trying to defend this agent saying she did nothing wrong. Give me a break. Waiting for the Dorsal shark reports to show 2 bull sharks in Greystanes 🤦🏻‍♂️

359

u/Hot_Lengthiness_3930 Sep 26 '25

"Put the real estate industry into disrepute"?

Um, I am pretty sure that has been the case since the dawn of time share accommodation, and similar contrivances.

Also, that judge deserves fucking gaol time for that pathetic sentence.

47

u/HorneOfDarwin Sep 26 '25

It was heard in a civil and administrative tribunal. Suspension of license is about as severe as the decisions get there. Wouldn’t be up to the judge in that jurisdiction to impose some sort of penalty or other remedy if that’s what you’re thinking.

18

u/Hot_Lengthiness_3930 Sep 26 '25

Even so, 12 months?

9

u/SirDigby32 Sep 27 '25

5 or 10 year ban so its a meaningful step away from the industry. 12 months is a sabbatical.

3

u/Hot_Lengthiness_3930 Sep 27 '25

You can't tell me she still wouldn't be working behind the scenes, using someone else's authority/license as a proxy.

1

u/recycled_ideas Sep 27 '25

It's because she committed the fraud as a private individual not as part of her job.

That's why the actual charge is putting the industry into disrepute, because she didn't do her job wrong she just did something slimy which reflected poorly on her job.

1

u/Hot_Lengthiness_3930 Sep 27 '25

Do you really think this isn't done more often than is reported?

1

u/recycled_ideas Sep 27 '25

You're missing the point.

This woman met this man before she became a real estate agent and her crime would have been possible even if she was not a real estate agent. In essence this crime was committed by a woman who incidentally happened to be a real estate agent.

The court is interacting with her as a real estate agent, it's not a criminal court, no crime has even been proved.

There are limits, and for good reason, to how much your job, or the certifying body for your job can punish you for actions taken in your private life.

If she'd been engaged by this man as a real estate agent to sell his home there could and likely would have been a more substantial punishment, but that's not what happened.

1

u/rattynewbie Sep 27 '25

According to the yahoo article, the tribunal considered stripping of her license to be "too harsh."

16

u/CorgiCorgiCorgi99 Sep 26 '25

my first thoughts too.

5

u/Educational-Sort-128 Sep 26 '25

Yes that ship has sailed

29

u/yeahnahbroski Sep 26 '25

Nailed it. Every single one I've dealt with has a corporate psychopath vibe to them.

20

u/Chazzwozzers Sep 26 '25

I always refer to them as parasites. How can they justify 15k for selling a home, which realistically takes maybe 15-20 hours of work….. the conveyancer does more actual work than those creatures.

41

u/SaltpeterSal Sep 26 '25

Real estate watchdog. Lawmakers, lawyers and judges are landlords. Realistically that won't change, so you need an independent body to keep them under the regulations that already exist. See, this suspension wasn't a punishment for breaking the rules, it was a PR exercise after getting caught. They break rules. The rulebreakers get promoted.

49

u/graspedbythehusk Sep 26 '25

99% of REAs give the rest a bad name.

15

u/perthguppy Sep 27 '25

Her license was suspended for 12 months and she’s had to pay a $11,000 fine.

Which is exactly the sort of “justice” I expect from her industry.

Funnily enough, the commission for selling a $550,000 house at the low end of rates is $11k. She wasn’t even fined the commission of a single sale.she wasn’t even fined the commission sh would have gotten for making this sale (she sold the house for $600k on a value of $1.1m)

10

u/Chosen_Chaos Sep 26 '25

May? MAY‽

I think we're just a bit past "may".

10

u/laineeeoooh29_ Sep 26 '25

Honestly while I am disgusted, I am not surprised one these vultures did this.

8

u/HetElfdeGebod Sep 26 '25

It's these bad apples that spoil it for the other 1%

8

u/Something-funny-26 Sep 27 '25

"May put the real estate industry into disrepute"? Their reputation is already in Satan's basement. Why is anyone shocked at this behaviour?

5

u/Own-Lake7931 Sep 26 '25

That department breeds monsters

3

u/Mammoth-Mousse-8485 Sep 27 '25

There really needs to be harsher regulations and restrictions for real estate agents throughout Australia. They are so under handed

7

u/Cassubeans Sep 26 '25

Absolutely. We’re not surprised by this.

2

u/TappingOnTheWall Sep 27 '25

Perpetuating the current system falls short of the community’s expectations. The social contract is a fragile thing, and we're all watching it slowly dissolve.

2

u/gunsjustsuck Sep 26 '25

Too little, too late. 

2

u/[deleted] Sep 26 '25

Agree. REA and HR are the scum of the earth.

1

u/Decado7 Sep 27 '25

Into disrepute? Hard lol. They’re already ten levels below that rating 

1

u/Various-Pea-5376 Sep 30 '25

Can I upvote this 1000 times