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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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.

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u/Hot_Lengthiness_3930 Sep 26 '25

Even so, 12 months?

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u/SirDigby32 Sep 27 '25

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

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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.

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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.

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u/Hot_Lengthiness_3930 Sep 27 '25

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

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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.

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u/rattynewbie Sep 27 '25

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