In May 2022, Cooper was issued with a notice requiring compliance with the request within 10 days but did not comply. Photo: 123RF
High-profile Auckland real estate salesperson Martin Cooper has been fined $5000 and his business $10,000 for failing to provide information relating to a complaint about one of his salespeople.
Cooper and Cooper and Co have also been told to pay costs of $13,566.25 to the Real Estate Authority.
They were found guilty of misconduct in February.
The issue began in 2021 when the Real Estate Authority's complaints assessment committee undertook a disciplinary investigation into a salesperson engaged by Cooper and Co.
Investigator Rangi Callahan required information from Cooper and Co.
In September, he phoned Cooper, and sent him an email asking him to supply information by the end of the week.
He followed up with him seven times between then and March the next year.
In May 2022, Cooper was issued with a notice requiring compliance with the request within 10 days.
The Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal noted that no response was ultimately received and the material required was not supplied.
In June, Callahan told Cooper he had informed the committee the notice had not been complied with.
On November 2022, he emailed Cooper and Cooper and Co, telling them the committee had decided to look into the non-compliance.
They were told they had until December 13 to respond.
Cooper emailed and asked what property and people the complaint related to.
He was given a copy of the Real Estate Authority's internal referral document, setting out the timeline of correspondence from Callahan.
He asked for more time to respond and was given until January, which was later extended to February 2023.
On February 14, Cooper's lawyers responded with information about why the notice had not been complied with.
The documents were still not provided and on December 4 of that year, the committee laid the charge against Cooper and Cooper and Co.
On December 5, the documents were provided.
The Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal said ensuring compliance should have been foremost in Cooper's mind when he received the notice.
"He was aware that it was a statutory notice and the importance of complying with it.
"We note that non-compliance was only rectified after the charges were filed by the committee. However, it is acknowledged that the licensees had mistakenly thought that they had already supplied the material sought and that it was included in their response to the committee's initial investigation."
The tribunal said it was appropriate to fine Cooper and Cooper and Co for the "mid-level offending", and for them to pay costs.
"We do not agree with the licenses' stance that costs should not be awarded. Put simply, Mr Cooper and Cooper and Co failed to comply with the notice and produce the documents requested by the committee.
"Had they not done so, the charge would not have been brought by the committee and there would have been no need for a hearing. They breached the Act and must face the consequences of penalty including a contribution to the committee's costs."
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