The Minns Labor Government's Rental Taskforce has hit the ground running, with a recent investigation into incorrect charges for rental background checks resulting in almost $50,000 being returned to renters.
The Taskforce is also coming down hard on real estate agents who were found to have misappropriated trust funds and rental bonds.
Following a $8.4 million investment by the Minns Labor Government, the Rental Taskforce has been analysing activities and trends within the rental market and conducting education and compliance activities such as inspections, audits, and blitzes to prevent and act on breaches of the law.
This work has recently resulted in refunds totalling $47,321 for renters, after a company was found to be selling background checks to renters.
Led by the Minns Labor Government, the NSW Parliament passed changes to rental laws in October 2024, banning landlords from making rental applicants pay for background checks before or when entering into a tenancy.
The NSW Fair Trading investigation revealed an online rental application platform had charged more than 2300 rental applicants for background checks allegedly due to a system error.
Rental applicants were charged $19.95 for a search of public databases and the National Tenancy Database, but following engagement from the Rental Taskforce, the platform has since voluntarily refunded affected consumers, disabled the background check feature on its website in NSW, and committed to periodic reviews to ensure compliance.
NSW Fair Trading is asking for any rental applicants who have been charged for a background check to lodge a complaint with NSW Fair Trading by visiting: https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/complaints-and-enquiries/housing-and-property.
NSW Fair Trading has also been working with NSW Police on several cases in recent months where trust funds or rental bonds have been misappropriated.
On 7 March 2025, Parramatta Local Court sentenced real estate agent Vanessa Nguyen to a 15-month Intensive Correction Order (ICO), with a condition to complete 180 hours of community service and to pay $80,866.20 in compensation, after a NSW Fair Trading investigation revealed she had taken more than $100,000 dishonestly from NSW Rental Bonds and a trust account managed at Ray White Canley Heights.
Nguyen made 25 rental bond claims totalling more than $50,000, and on 14 separate occasions transferred a total sum of $50,505 from the agency's trust account into her personal account.
Nguyen pleaded guilty and was convicted of two offences of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.
By law, real estate agents are obligated to place client funds in trust accounts which cannot be used for any purpose other than for that client.
In late 2024, NSW Fair Trading completed two prosecutions where a property manager and an administration assistant at real estate agency First National Parramatta, plead guilty to charges relating to the misappropriation of funds from Rental Bonds.
Rachel Fares was sentenced to a 12-month Community Corrections Order in December 2024 after pleading guilty to one charge of fraud under the NSW Crimes Act for misappropriating $1,801.34 of Rental Bonds, and one charge for money laundering after she received approximately $7,400 in circumstances where there were reasonable grounds to suspect it was the proceeds of crime.
In a related matter, property manager Matthew Rizk was sentenced to an 18-month Community Corrections Order with 40 hours of community service in October 2024 for one count of fraud under the NSW Crimes Act for misappropriating the sum of approximately $15,436 related to rental bonds.
In January 2025, an investigation into property agent Bree Patricia Callaghan revealed she had diverted trust account funds, including rental payments, into her personal bank account and cancelled property management fees.
NSW Fair Trading cancelled Callaghan's property licence and disqualified her from holding a property licence for 10 years.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong:
"The return of almost $50,000 in incorrect charges back to renters demonstrates that the Minns Labor Government's Rental Taskforce has hit the ground running and is doing the job it was set up to do.
"The significant prosecutions and punishments we are seeing for real estate agents also shows that the message is clear - if you are doing the wrong thing, the Rental Taskforce will catch you and serious legal consequences will follow.
"The new Rental Taskforce is a multi-disciplinary team bringing together new and existing resources drawn from across NSW Fair Trading, focused on preventing and responding to breaches of rental laws to create a more equitable market for the 2.3 million renters in this state."
