Real estate agent suspended for buying a home from a vulnerable man with Alzheimer’s $500k under market value

A Sydney real estate agent has been stripped of her licence for 12 months after buying a home from an elderly man with alcohol problems and Alzheimer’s symptoms for $500,000 less than its market value. Eser Property director Rachelle Carmen Norah lost a review in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal to overrule a Commissioner of Fair Trading’s decision to suspend her licence for 12 months and revoke an $11,000 fine. The real estate agent with a decade of experience claimed she did the right thing when she purchased the home for $600,000 from a vulnerable 82-year old man at a significantly undervalued price in April 2023. The tribunal was told she held power of attorney over the vulnerable man and bought the property one month after the house next door sold for $1.1m. The retiree agreed to sell the home to Ms Norah on the condition he could live there for as long as he wanted, but she failed to ensure his tenure putting him at risk of a 90-day eviction. Civil and Administrative Tribunal Senior Member Lachlan Bryant found the man was alone, isolated, extremely vulnerable and relied on the real estate agent to look after his day-to-day needs, including his financial affairs. Mr Byrant said in his decision, the vulnerable man was highly susceptible to being taken advantage of by the real estate agent and he did not have the mental capacity to sell his home. He found Ms Norah misconducted herself and took advantage of a vulnerable elderly person for her own financial benefit calling her actions deliberate and of major harm and severity. “(Ms Norah’s) belief that purchasing (the man’s) property in the circumstances was the right thing to do is of serious concern,” he said. “(Her) conduct may put the real estate industry into disrepute and falls short of the community’s expectations of a licence holder.”