Record Fine for Real Estate Agency Over Financial Misconduct
A defunct real estate agency based in Willetton, Western Australia, has been hit with a record-breaking fine after a court found it had seriously mishandled client funds and failed to comply with rental bond regulations.
Unprecedented Penalty for Trust Account Offences
Jim’s Realty Pty Ltd, which previously operated under the name Agape Property Group, was convicted of a total of 35 offences in the Perth Magistrates Court on January 30, 2026. The court imposed a fine of $225,000, which is the largest penalty ever handed down to a real estate business in Western Australia for such breaches.
In addition to the substantial fine, the company was ordered to pay $577.50 in court costs. The case stemmed from an investigation conducted by Consumer Protection WA, which was initiated following a review of the agency's 2021 financial report.
Pattern of Serious Financial Mismanagement
The court proceedings revealed a disturbing pattern of financial misconduct by the agency. Key findings included:
- Repeated failures to deposit client money into the required trust account
- Unauthorised withdrawals from the trust account
- Inadequate and incomplete financial record-keeping
- Late or non-existent lodgement of rental bonds with authorities
Magistrate Randazzo characterised the offending as particularly serious, noting the deliberate nature of the breaches and their impact on consumers.
Investigation Uncovers Significant Financial Discrepancies
The investigation gained momentum in May 2023 when Consumer Protection WA investigators conducted a search of the business premises. This action followed the discovery of a substantial discrepancy between the agency's reported trust account balance of $235,050 and the actual bank balance of just $46,613.
Subsequent auditing revealed even more concerning findings:
- 57 unexplained withdrawals totalling more than $334,915
- Missing or inaccurate financial records that made tracing the money nearly impossible
- Complete depletion of funds, leaving nothing available to repay creditors
The company was ultimately shut down in September 2024 following a Federal Court order, with liquidators confirming there were no remaining assets to satisfy creditor claims.
Systemic Failure to Lodge Rental Bonds
A significant component of the case involved the agency's failure to properly handle rental bonds. The company was convicted of 26 separate offences related to bond lodgement between July 2021 and October 2023.
These offences included:
- Failure to lodge bonds within the legally required 14-day period
- Complete failure to lodge numerous bonds at all
- Creating unnecessary financial risk for both tenants and landlords
History of Previous Offences and Official Response
The court heard that this was not the agency's first encounter with regulatory action. In 2018, the business had been fined $5,000 for similar offences involving unlawful trust account withdrawals and improper account balancing.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake described the case as "one of the most serious examples of trust account misconduct the state has ever seen."
"This conduct represents some of the gravest offending under the legislation," Ms Blake stated. "It was marked by deliberate and repeated embezzlement of clients' funds with no accountability for where the money went. These were not isolated incidents but a clear pattern of offending."
The Commissioner emphasised the particular risks created by the agency's failure to properly lodge rental bonds, noting that security bonds often represent significant sums of money that both tenants and landlords rely upon being handled correctly.
Ms Blake also highlighted how the agency's poor record-keeping practices meant that substantial amounts of money could not be traced back to specific owners or tenants, compounding the harm caused to consumers.
