27 June 2019
Licence renewals and reminders
As mentioned in bulletin #87, our Licensing Services team now sends out digital renewal reminders exclusively by SMS and email:
- Three months prior to licence expiry you’ll receive a text message reminding you to go online and ensure your contact details are up to date.
- Two months prior to expiry you’ll receive a renewal reminder email.
Unfortunately, up to 20 per cent of renewal reminder emails are bouncing back. This usually happens because agents provide us with their work email address, which they no longer have following a job change.
To ensure you continue to receive important licence reminders from us, we strongly recommend you provide a personal email address (that you will use for a long time) and a personal phone number rather than a work-issued email address or phone.
You are responsible to ensure your licence remains current while you perform regulated work and you should ensure that your details are kept up to date with the Department.
Do you have employees or bona fide control of a business?
You are responsible for the supervision and control of employees, and to ensure the business is professionally conducted in accordance with the Settlement Agents Act 1981, Regulations and the Code of Conduct. This includes ensuring all agents performing regulated work for your business hold current licences.
We recommend you encourage your employees to provide updated personal contact details to ensure they receive licence renewal notices AND submit their renewal forms in plenty of time to avoid licence expiry.
Share the News! Home Buyers Assistance Account (HBAA) grant
Be sure to let your clients know about this great opportunity to reimburse some of the incidental expenses associated with the purchase of a first home in Western Australia!
Eligible applicants can receive a grant of up to $2,000 from the Home Buyers Assistance Account.
Here are a couple of great resources to share with interested clients:
- Today Tonight segment featuring the HBAA grant
- Home buyers assistance account guide for first home buyers
The HBAA scheme is funded from interest paid on real estate agents’ trust accounts.
It's tax time: Don't get scammed!
WA taxpayers are being warned about scams as losses increase. In the 12 months to the end of May 2019, 43 people reported to Consumer Protection losing a total of $205,250 to tax scams, representing a substantial increase on previous years. Tax scams usually peak between July and December as people are submitting their tax returns.
Information and advice on scams is available on the WA ScamNet website. Enquiries can be made to Consumer Protection by email or by calling 1300 304 054.