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Consumer Affairs Victoria is arguing that the agent, who has a history of unprofessional conduct, should be banned from holding an estate agent’s licence.
Consumer Affairs Victoria has commenced disciplinary proceedings against Thomas Aloysius, who it alleges is “not of good character or otherwise not a fit and proper person to hold a licence”.
With proceedings taking place in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), the latest action takes place after Mr Aloysius was convicted of breaches of estate agent laws in 2021.
At that time, while employed with MCRE AG (trading as Area Specialists Aspendale Gardens), he was convicted of charges related to mishandling money, failing to act in his principal’s best interest, and acting unprofessionally and in a way that was damaging to the industry’s reputation, under the Estate Agents Act 1980.
Following court proceedings, which found Mr Aloysius had asked a purchaser to pay some of their deposit to his personal bank account instead of to the agency’s trust account, he was given a criminal conviction and fined $8,000.
In this latest set of disciplinary proceedings, Consumer Affairs is alleging that Mr Aloysius has engaged in further misconduct since, as the director of Hills and Fort Real Estate — which trades under the following business names: Freedom Realtors, Smart Negotiators and freedomproperty.com.au – Smart Negotiators.
It’s alleged that in his role as director, Mr Aloysius has allowed the company to trade for a period of time without a licence and failed to manage trust account money appropriately — as the company failed to pay money into a trust account in the name of the agent.
Consumer Affairs has also claimed that the director has not acted fairly and honestly and to the best of his knowledge and ability as an estate agent, as well as engaged in conduct “that is unprofessional or detrimental to the reputation or interests of the industry”.
With a directions hearing scheduled for 26 September 2022, Consumer Affairs has used the latest allegations as a warning to others, noting that estate agents that do not comply with their obligations to manage their clients’ money appropriately face the prospect of being barred from working as an estate agent or agent’s representative.
“Trust money doesn’t belong to agents,” Consumer Affairs Victoria director Nicole Rich stated.
“We will act to protect buyers, vendors and the industry from unprofessional and unlawful conduct.”
She also considered unlicensed trading as “unfair on licensed agents who are competing in the real estate industry and doing the right thing”.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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