Failure to check fine print lands Perth real estate agent in court

A licensed real estate agency has learnt the hard way to always read the fine print and carry out that background check after it was reprimanded and fined for employing an unregistered sales representative.

Penno Pty Ltd, trading as LJ Hooker Shelley-Willeton, pleaded guilty in January this year to employing Kirtsten Leigh Hopla as an unregistered agent.

Hopla was fined $3200 in Perth Magistrate Court and ordered to pay $948 costs for not being registered and nine counts of acting as a real estate agent sales rep between December 2013 and February last year.

The failure to check credentials has prompted West Australia consumer watchdog chief to remind licensed real estate agents to do background checks of prospective employees.

Read full story: Failure to check fine print lands Perth real estate agent in court