The Arizona Department of Real Estate has disciplined a number of Tucson real estate agents for trust account irregularities and audit violations, and others for unlicensed real estate activity. Among the most recent violations:
Susan Marie Wester of Adobe Property Managers in Tucson was cited for audit violations and trust account deficiencies. A 2013 department audit found that one of her property management trust accounts, used to store tenants' rent payments and security deposits, was short by more than $64,000. In 2014, Wester reported that she'd hired a new accountant and said one of her employees had been embezzling money, prompting her to deposit $30,000 in personal funds to balance the account. The department again found in 2014 a shortage of $56,000, but Wester later deposited funds to balance the account and signed an affidavit attesting that those funds now belonged to her clients.
Wester was fined a $5,000 civil penalty and must complete 12 hours of continuing education in trust account administration and record-keeping. She will also have to submit monthly trust account reconciliations and quarterly review of records, and will have two years with a provisional license.
Carol Sinclair of Sinclair Associates in Tucson was also cited for audit violations, including inaccurate monthly reconciliations and overages totaling more than $32,000. Sinclair was given a $2,000 civil penalty, and she must complete six hours of continuing education in trust account administration and record-keeping, and submit monthly trust account reconciliations and a quarterly review of records. She will have a provisional real estate license for two years.
Beth Laos had her real estate license revoked for failing to comply with a previous consent order. Laos, a former salesperson with Long Realty, failed to disclose a 2011 civil penalty — totaling more than $1.3 million — imposed when a court found she had intentionally misrepresented her assets to secure a loan from the plaintiff in the case. Because she hadn’t disclosed this civil action, the department fined her $3,000 in 2013, gave her a provisional license and ordered that she submit quarterly sworn statements that she was abiding by the terms of her provisional license. Laos has not provided those statements, the department said.
Susan Wasley of Real Estate Marketing Professionals in Tucson was fined a $1,000 civil penalty for conducting real estate activity for more than three months after her license expired in February 2013.
©2015 The Arizona Daily Star. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
