Key Points
- Perth real estate Bronwyn Pollitt has had her licence suspended for eight months
- She sent her tenants an email comparing the cleanliness standards of Australia and India
- 'Simply inappropriate': Members of the Indian community have welcomed the decision
In a court order issued on 28 August, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection said "there was proper cause for disciplinary action against Bronwyn Joan Pollitt".
Ms Pollitt, the director of the Perth-based Mavin Real Estate agency, has been stripped of her licence for eight months starting from 1 September, following a dispute with tenants Sandeep Kumar and Ritu Devi Sharma that started two years ago.
Mavin Real Estate was managing a property on behalf of the owner in Hocking, Perth. (Representative image) Source: Moment RF / Oscar Wong/Getty Images
The property was rented out by Mr Kumar and Ms Sharma with a residential tenancy agreement from 2 January 2020 to 1 July 2020.
The court observed that after the tenants left the premises on 2 December 2020, Ms Pollitt carried out a standard final inspection of the property, during which she compared its condition to the initial inspection report.
"There were in the opinion of the owner and respondent (the real estate agency) a number of items during the final inspection which required attention in order to bring the property in line with the condition of the ingoing inspection report," the court order said.
The email
After several months of discussions concerning the security deposit and cleaning expenses, Ms Pollitt sent an email to the tenants in May 2021 in which she allegedly made negative remarks about Indian culture.
"After my discussion with Ritu about cleaning I have given thought to the cultural differences and attitudes to cleaning coming through from my Indian tenants," Ms Pollitt wrote.
The email sent by Ms Pollitt to Ms Kumar and Ms Sharma.
"Hopefully the massive influx of Indian people will not turn our beautiful country into the filth that is India where bodies are on the street, half burnt bodies are in the river and people climb over each other for medical help.
Perth-based Mavin Real Estate carried out a standard final inspection of the property which was vacated and handed over by the tenants. (Representative image) Credit: Westend61/Getty Images/Westend61
"A general vacate clean is usually about $1000.00 and a white Australian has an expectation that they will move into a clean Australian standards clean not an Indian standard clean. Different if we moved to India then we would have to put up with the Indian standard."
The verdict
After imposing an eight-month suspension on the licence of Ms Pollitt, the court acknowledged that she apologised to Mr Kumar and took steps to address any potential miscommunication conveyed in her email dated 22 May 2021.
It noted that Mr Pollitt was under pressure at the time when the events occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Those pressures included significant changes to tenancy regulations and requirements, an increase in conflicts arising between Tenants and Landlords and Ms Pollitt's underlying health issues," the order said.
Ms Pollitt also agreed to undertake training and mentoring and also made internal changes with her agency to avoid such situations in future.
SBS Hindi sought comments from Ms Pollitt but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Community reaction
Veeranna Sataraddi, who serves as the Chair of the Business Wing within the Indian Society of Western Australia (ISWA), said the Indian migrant population was growing in the state and such incidents could have a negative impact on the community.
Veerana Sataraddi is a resident of Perth. Credit: Supplied by Veerana Sataraddi.
"It is simply inappropriate to make derogatory comments about any specific race, culture, or country," Mr Sataraddi said.
"We express our deep gratitude for the abundance of comforts accessible within our nation, yet it is imperative to remember that this should not lead us to hold a condescending attitude towards other countries," he added.
Pankaj Kapoor, a Perth-based real estate agent, said the news comes at a time when the rental market in Perth is facing a significant crisis.
"The problem could have been peacefully resolved with effective communication, but the real estate agent's inappropriate language portrayed the entire community in a negative light," he said.
