Brian and Kate both work in a small Agency. Brian is the principal and licensed Land Agent and Kate is registered as a Sales Representative. After working together for the past 2 years Brian has recently taken on board a second Agent (Jackson) who also holds Sales Representative registration in SA. Everything seemed to be going well for the first couple of months and then a complaint from a client hits Brian's inbox.

The email reads:

Dear Agency Principal I recently contacted your Agency and have been dealing with Jackson. My neighbours Sara and Jim, Have listed their property with you, and I am keen to put in an offer on that property (17 Swann Terrace) if within my budget or a similar property. After meeting with Jackson he sent me an agreement called a Buyer's Agent agreement to sign. I thought it odd that it was not on Agency Letterhead (just his name) but the agreement said he would help me buy that property or find another one suitable (like we discussed) and he was only charging me a flat $2000. I was about to sign but Sara said I should confirm this with you because she said it means two people (me plus Sara and Jim) are both paying a fee about the sale of the one property, and she thinks that might be a mistake. Can you give me advice please? Jenny M

Brian shows Kate the email and asks for her opinion. Kate grabs her folder from when she studied Real Estate 3 years ago because she has hard copies of the regulations. Whilst Kate is reviewing the compliance situation Brian asks Jackson about this. Jackson says he fielded the call after hours and has a prior relationship with Jenny. He offered a personal agreement so that he could get a direct commission payment for assisting her. Jackson says there is no problem because the only concern is about a conflict of interest which does not exist. He says there is no guarantee Jenny will be successful when she makes an offer so he may end up looking at other properties for her and, also, doing it as a personal agreement avoids a conflict as it is not involving the agency. Kate completes her research. Brian wants to be certain she has checked to make sure the regulation reviewed was the current one because the matter is current. Kate says: "it doesn't matter Brian . Even if the regs were amended last month and the issue occurred 6 months ago you only need the current version". Regardless, Brian asks Kate to check the version is current. Kate says there are compliance concerns and breaches has occurred. Her advice is that there are grounds to dismiss Jackson and also recommends that the issue is reported to CBS (Consumer and Business Services). Brian disagrees saying that yes, he may need to terminate Jackson's employment but Jenny didn't use the word "complaint" in her email so he is not required to report the breach.

After thinking about the situation Brian writes back to Jenny as follows:

Dear Jenny Thanks for your email. Whilst I understand the reason for your enquiry there is no issue. That said, we recommend you don't sign Jackson's agreement. We will be very happy to assist you directly with your offer for the Swann Terrace Property or for any other property we are currently listing. Please feel free to call me on the number below and I assist you personally.

Brian takes no further action. He does not report the matter to CBS. He gives Jackson a warning to not try to get clients signed up personally again or he will terminate his employment. Brian tells Jackson "You breached the rules around Secret Commissions in the Land Agents Act 1994, and you tried to sign up a client personally but you are only a Sales Representative". He tells Jackson he will be assisting Jenny and he is to have no further contact with her. Brian deletes the email from Jenny and does not record anything about the concern in his database for Jenny or the vendors. As the Agent in Charge, there are actions Brian did well and decisions made that were correct. From the list below, correctly identify the actions that were acceptable, the decisions that were correct and any actions that were compliant. There are seven (7) to identify. You are only permitted a maximum of three (3) attempts. Do not guess. Please consider your selections carefully and remember to refer back to your learner guide as needed.

Select all that apply

Getting the opinion of a staff member regarding compliance issue with another staff member

Categorising the correspondence as not being a complaint because the word 'Complaint' was not used

Stating that the legislation relevant to Licensing conditions is the Property and Stock Agents Act

Rejecting Jackson's assessment that the matter is a simple possible conflict of Interest addressed with a non-agency Buyers Agent agreement between Jackson personally and the client (Jenny)

Deciding the incident should not be reported to Fair Trading NSW

Assessing a compliance matter related to the incident is a breach of rules about Secret Commissions

Stating the rules regarding secret commissions are specified in the Conveyancing Act

Checking legislation and regulation online

Deciding to keep everything informal and not record anything about Jenny' s email or the actions taken regarding Jackson

Offering to assist Jenny personally

Assessing a compliance matter as being related to operating outside of Jackson's current license entitlement as an Assistant Agent holding a certificate of Registration

Ensuring Jackson was aware of the situation and directing him to have no further contact with Jenny