Open home viewer left to lock up

Agent censured and fined $2000 after visitor complains to real estate watchdog

APonsonby real estate agent who got a member of the public to close up after an open home has been censured by the Real Estate Agents Authority.

Carla Pedersen of Damerell Group, trading as Ray White Ponsonby, was found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct and fined $2000 after a complaint was laid against her, according to the just-released complaints assessment committee decision.

A visitor to the open home Pedersen was running at a Ponsonby apartment in April last year found himself alone in the property and was then asked to lock the apartment and leave because Pedersen had left for another property. The visitor later complained to the watchdog.

“There were others at the open home but not the licensee, as she was attending another open home in the same apartment block,” the decision said. “There was no other agency presence there.

“When the complainant and his partner were ready to leave, they were the last viewers and the licensee had not returned. He phoned the licensee, who advised him she had already left the area and was too busy to return. [She] asked the complainant to lock the door as he left. This left him concerned about the integrity and professionalism of the licensee,” the committee’s decision said.

Pedersen said “some people want to be left alone” and that as she had “back-to-back” open homes and had left the key to the other open home at the office, she asked if the last person could “snip” the door behind them. The apartment building was a gated community with cameras, she said, and at the viewing were existing owners in the building who were known to her. She did return to check that the property had been locked and she closed the blinds, the decision said.

The apartment vendors said they were unaware Pedersen was leaving people alone in their home, and would not have agreed to it.

The Herald contacted Ray White but did not receive a response by deadline last night.

In a separate decision, an agent found guilty of misconduct for falsifying a rent appraisal on a Sandringham property has been fined $6000 and censured.

The Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal heard the case against Damon Elia last month, saying the offence occurred in 2014 when he was a Bayleys licensed salesperson who had listed the Sandringham property for sale.

Elia was dealing with potential purchasers who wanted to know how much the Sandringham property could be rented for. The agent, who previously had an “unblemished” record, estimated $900 to $950/week, but then took a rent appraisal for one property, altered it and sent it to the potential buyers.

“Rather than arrange for a genuine rental appraisal to be prepared, Mr Elia altered the appraisal for the different property so that it appeared to have been prepared by the residential property manager for the property,” the tribunal said in its decision.

“Licensee pleaded guilty to a charge of falsifying a rental appraisal document. The licensee took an existing rental appraisal for a different property, prepared by the agency’s residential property manager, and altered it to look like it had been prepared by the residential property manager,” a summary of the case said.

“The tribunal would have ordered a period of suspension for three months if the licensee had not already served a period of suspension imposed by the agency,” the decision said.

Bayleys’ compliance manager Tony Bayley said that as a result of the complaint, Elia was suspended. He said Elia no longer worked for Bayleys.

The tribunal expressed concern about Bayleys’ action in the case.

“We record our concern that the agency did not report to the authority when it received [the] complaint. However, we acknowledge that the agency took the matter seriously and took steps to uphold the relevant professional obligations. It followed up the complaint with Mr Elia and, following his admission, dealt with his wrongdoing by suspending him from the practice,” the tribunal said.