Land Agents Regulations 2025

An agent must ensure that the agent's trust ledger accounts are kept separately—

in respect of each of the agent's clients; and

if the agent performs services for a client in respect of a number of transactions between different parties—in respect of each such transaction.

The agent must record in each of the separate accounts the following details:

the name and address of the client to whom the accounts relate;

a brief description of the service provided and the transaction to which the accounts relate;

in respect of each receipt or disbursement of trust money—

the date and reference number of the receipt or disbursement;

and

the name of the person from whom the money is received or to whom the money is disbursed; and

brief particulars of the purpose of the receipt or disbursement;

and

the amount received or disbursed.

The agent must ensure that any changes in the details referred to in subregulation (2)(a) or (b) are recorded in a manner that enables the changes and the order in which they occurred to be identified.

If the agent transfers money between any of the separate accounts, the transfer must be clearly recorded—

in both accounts; and

in a transfer journal, in sufficient detail that the transfer may be clearly understood.

The records of receipts, disbursements and transfers must be made by the agent in accordance with this regulation in the order in which the receipts, disbursements or transfers are received or made, each such record being made within 2 working days after the receipt, disbursement or transfer in question.

Subregulation (5) does not apply in relation to receipts or payments by way of electronic transfer of funds, a record of which must be made within 2 working days after the agent receives official confirmation that the transfer has occurred.

If an agent uses a computer program to keep trust ledger accounts or a transfer journal, the agent must ensure that—

the program is incapable of—

recording a transaction that would result in a debit balance in a trust ledger account unless a separate contemporaneous record of the transaction is also made so that, at any time, a hard copy may be produced of all such transactions in chronological order; and

deleting from its records the information relating to a trust ledger account unless—

the balance of the account is 0; and

a hard copy of all of the information required under these regulations relating to the account has been produced; and

changing existing information relating to a transaction otherwise than by making a further entry showing a separate transaction to effect the change; and

the program automatically inserts consecutive page numbers into any hard copy report produced by use of the program; and

the program requires input in each field of a data entry screen intended to receive information for the purposes of a trust ledger account or transfer journal so that the entry contains all of the information required by this regulation. Maximum penalty: Maximum penalty: $2 500.

If an agent uses a computer program to keep trust ledger accounts or a transfer journal, the agent must, within 2 working days of a request from the Commissioner or the agent's auditor, produce hard copies of the trust ledger accounts or transfer journal. Maximum penalty: Maximum penalty: $2 500.