Sanctions/Prosecutions

As a result of serious concerns in respect of the management of client moneys at the Mart, the High Court temporarily suspended its licence for a period of a week in February 2023. The High Court ordered that the Mart pay to the Authority €12,000 including VAT as the agreed cost of the motion.

Following consideration of the Inspectors’ Final Investigation Report, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction in respect of the inappropriate financial procedures by the Mart, which was a payment of €13,000 to the Authority.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the Mart.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice David Barniville on 19 March 2024.

As a result of serious concerns in respect of the financial management of client moneys at the Mart, the High Court temporarily suspended its licence for a period of a week in February 2023. The High Court ordered that the Mart pay to the Authority €5,000 plus VAT which was the agreed cost of the motion.

Following consideration of the Inspectors’ Final Investigation Report, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction in respect of the financial management of client moneys at the Mart, which was a payment of €11,000 to the Authority. This financial penalty was for the various breaches of the Client Moneys Regulations 2012 and for the Mart’s conscious and deliberate misleading of the Authority over the course of many years in relation to its true financial position.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the Mart.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice David Barniville on 19 March 2024. The High Court directed that the Mart pay the financial penalty between March 2024 to December 2024.

Following consideration of the inspector’s Final Investigation Report, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction whereby Mr Stack was prohibited from applying for a new licence for a period of six months from the date of the order of the Court confirming the sanction.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors including mitigating factors in this case. The sanction was unopposed by Mr Stack.

This sanction was confirmed by the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice David Barniville on 23 October 2023.

Following consideration of the inspectors’ Final Investigation Report, the Authority imposed a major sanction in two parts:

• A payment of €5,000 to the Authority in respects of costs of carrying out the investigation
• A payment of €5,000 to the Authority by way of financial penalty in respect of the acts of Lloyd Daly & Associates Ltd.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the licensee.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice David Barniville, on 16 January 2023. An additional Order in the amount of €1,500 plus VAT in respect of the costs of the application was also granted.

The High Court directed that payments are to be made within 90 days of the decision being confirmed by the High Court.

Following consideration of the inspectors’ Final Investigation Reports, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction in two parts:
• That both the agent and the companybe required to pay the sum of €5,000.00 each to the Authority by way of financial penalty
• Suspend the licence of the agent for 60 days (under paragraph (b) of the definition of
“major sanction”)
In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors.
The agent subsequently submitted an appeal to the High Court, and upon taking a number of factors into account, Mr Justice Owens determined that while it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the agent did mislead the Authority and improper conduct did occur under limb (a) of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, one of the findings made could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, Mr Justice Owens upheld the finding of improper conduct under limb (a), however, modified the sanction instructing;
• That both the agent and the company be required to pay the sum of €7,500.00 each to the Authority by way of financial penalty
• that the agent and the company be jointly required to pay the sum of €8,000.00 to the Authority by way of contribution towards the costs of the investigation carried out
• that the agent and the company pay to the Authority the costs of the proceedings
This sanction was confirmed by Mr Justice Alexander Owens, on 2 June 2022 and the agent and company were given 12 months in which to make the appropriate payments.

Following consideration of the inspectors’ Final Investigation Report, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction in two parts:

• That the agent be permanently prohibited from applying for a new licence.
• That the agent be required to pay a sum of €5,000 to the Authority by way of financial penalty for the acts underlying the finding of improper conduct made against him.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the former licensee.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, on 11 October 2021 and the agent was given six months in which to make the appropriate payments.

Following consideration of the inspectors’ Final Investigation Reports, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction in four parts:

• Permanent revocation of her licence (this prevents the agent from applying for a licence in the future),
• A payment of €25,000 to the Authority by way of financial penalty,
• A payment of €50,000 into the Property Services Compensation Fund,
• A direction that the agent pay a sum of €20,552 to the PSRA, being the cost to the PSRA of the investigation.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the former licensee.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, on 25 August 2021 and the agent was given 6 months in which to make the appropriate payments. Ms Justice Mary Irvine placed a stay of four weeks on the sanction in relation to the costs of the investigation to allow the agent to apply to the High Court for the costs to be varied, if the agent can demonstrate to the Court that they sought to challenge the figure of €20,552 before the Authority prior to the Authority making its decision to impose this sanction.

Following consideration of the inspectors’ Final Investigation Reports, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction in two parts:

• Permanent revocation of the licence – this prevents the agent from applying for a licence in the future,
• A payment of €100,000 to the Authority by way of financial penalty,

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the former licensee.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, on 25 August 2021 and the agent was given 6 months in which to make the appropriate payments.

Following consideration of the inspector’s Final Reports, the Authority decided to impose a major sanction and the licensee was directed by the Authority to pay the sum of €7,500 into the Property Services Compensation Fund. In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors. The sanction was unopposed by the licensee and his legal team in court.

The sanction was subsequently confirmed by the President of the High Court Mr Justice Peter Kelly on 9 November 2018.

In determining the appropriate sanction, the Authority took into account various factors including the fact that no client of the Licensee had suffered any permanent financial loss. The Authority decided to impose a major sanction and directed the licensee to pay the sum of €25,000 into the Property Services Compensation Fund. As required by the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, this sanction was confirmed by order of the High Court on 10 October, 2016.

As a result of a complaint received from an Owners Management Company (OMC) against the licensee and following consideration of the Inspector’s Final Investigation Report, on 20 September 2023 the Authority imposed three minor sanctions of a Warning  regarding breaches of the following Regulations:

Regulation 5(1) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to failures of the licensee to respond to all communications from the client (OMC).

Regulation 5(3) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to failures of the licensee to act in the best interests of their client (OMC) at all times.

Regulation 11 of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to the licensee breaching the terms of the letter of engagement/contract in respect of the provision of property services to their client (OMC).

Complaint 2

As a result of a complaint received from an Owners Management Company (OMC) against the licensee and following consideration of the Inspector’s Final Investigation Report, on 20 November 2023 the Authority imposed three minor sanctions of a Warning regarding breaches of the following Sections/Regulations:

Section 43(1) of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 – relates to the failure by the licensee to ensure a signed letter of engagement/contract was in place with their client.

Regulation 5(3) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to failure of the licensee to act in the best interests of their client by failing to return records belonging to their client (OMC).

Regulation 5(4) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to the licensee exceeding the Authority granted by their client (OMC).

Complaint 3

As a result of a complaint received from an Owners Management Company (OMC) against the licensee and following consideration of the Inspector’s Final Investigation Report, on 6 March 2024 the Authority imposed five minor sanctions of a Warning regarding breaches of the following Sections/Regulations:

Section 44 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 – relates to the licensee’s failure to retain records in the specified form within a period not less than 6 years, after the completion of operations to which the records relate.

Regulation 5(1) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to failures by the licensee to respond to all communications from their client (OMC).

Regulation 5(3) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to the licensee’s failure to act in the best of the client (OMC) at all times.

Regulation 5(4) of the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 – relates to the licensee exceeding the authority granted by the client when making unauthorised transfers from the sinking fund bank account to the OMC’s current account.

Regulation 16(5) of the Client Moneys Regulations 2012 – relates to the licensee’s failure to maintain proper books of accounts with supporting documentation.

The agent and the agent’s legal representative consented in court to the injunction. The injunction was sought following an investigation under Section 89 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 (the Act) into the agent providing property services without a licence.  This is an offence under Section 28 of the Act. The Authority has powers under Section 89(7) of the Act to seek a High Court injunction requiring a person trading illegally without a licence to cease trading immediately.