Compliance Radar
Who was sanctioned, and for what?
Fines, court rulings and incidents from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa: 2,207 cases from 44 jurisdictions, each with an official source and checked against that source before publication. Filter by country, area of law and sector. Click a chart to drill down one level.
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Where?
by regionAll jurisdictions
What for?
by topic- Misleading advertising and pricing €43.4m 92 % · 3 cases
- no topic €3.75m 8 % · 3 cases
- Fake reviews – 0 % · 1 case
Who?
by companyWhen?
per year, by date of decision| Period | Cases | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | – |
| 2023 | 0 | – |
| 2024 | 2 | €43m |
| 2025 | 0 | – |
| 2026 | 4 | €4.11m |
7 cases
9 Jun 2026 Leader Properties Investment Pty LtdNSW: property manager Leader Properties penalised for unlawfully locking out a tenant €13,422
NSW Fair Trading (the consumer protection regulator of New South Wales) reprimanded Leader Properties Investment Pty Ltd on 9 June 2026 and imposed a monetary penalty of 22,000 AUD because it had locked out a tenant and unlawfully taken possession of the rented home in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010. All licensed agents of the company who provide property management must complete tenancy training. Measures against individuals are not set out here.
Property managers must never lock out tenants on their own authority; evictions only go through the statutory process, and staff must know this.
Tenancy law in property management: no self-help evictions or lockouts
Missing or inadequate training played a role in the decision.
- Authority / court
- NSW Fair Trading
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail
- Legal basis
- Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW), s 192(1)(a), (c) und (d); Verstoß gegen den Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Liability of senior managers
- Measures against individuals are not set out here.
- Published
- 25 Jun 2026
Original amount 22,000 AUD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 9 Jun 2026.
- NSW Fair Trading Name and Shame Register: Leader Properties Investment Pty Ltd, Disciplinary Action, Penalty amount $22,000.00, 09/06/2026 Official register or notice
- Verify NSW (amtliches Lizenzregister), Lizenz 1687033, Leader Properties Investment Pty Ltd – Disziplinarmaßnahmen vom 09.06.2026 (JSON) Official register or notice
Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link
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24 Apr 2026 White Ray Oakleigh Pty Ltd (Ray White Oakleigh)Federal Court: 600,000 AUD against former operator of Ray White Oakleigh for underquoting €366,010
Following action by Consumer Affairs Victoria (the consumer protection regulator of the state of Victoria), the Federal Court of Australia ordered White Ray Oakleigh Pty Ltd, former operator of the Ray White Oakleigh agency, to pay 600,000 AUD because between February 2022 and November 2023 it advertised nine properties well below market value and at prices it did not itself expect to achieve (underquoting). According to the regulator, the agency agreements often provided for considerably higher commission on proceeds above the reserve price, and vendors were persuaded to lower their reserves after signing; text messages between the agents showed that they expected considerably higher prices. The court found misleading or deceptive conduct and false or misleading representations.
Prices in property advertising must reflect the agent's genuine estimate; commission models that reward bait pricing are a compliance risk in their own right.
Truthful price information in property advertising (underquoting)
- Authority / court
- Consumer Affairs Victoria / Federal Court of Australia
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing
- Legal basis
- Irreführendes Verhalten sowie falsche oder irreführende Angaben (Vorschriften in der Mitteilung nicht genannt)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Culpability
- intentional
- Mitigating circumstances
- The company admitted the conduct and cooperated with the regulator in the court proceedings; it has not operated the agency since 2025.
- Published
- 24 Apr 2026
Original amount 600,000 AUD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 24 Apr 2026.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: Company to pay $600,000 for underquoting (24.04.2026) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link
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8 Apr 2026 Alquiler Seguro, S.A.U.Consumer ministry: €3.6m fine on Alquiler Seguro over charges imposed on tenants €3.6m
The Ministerio de Derechos Sociales, Consumo y Agenda 2030 (Spanish Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda) imposed fines totalling 3,600,902 EUR (1,000,000, 990,900, three times 500,000, 100,001 and 10,001 EUR) on the rental agency Alquiler Seguro for six very serious and one serious breach of tenants' consumer rights. Among other things, the company had required tenants to pay for a tenant service as management and contract costs, to take out home insurance for the landlord's benefit and to bear debt collection and court costs, used a clause allowing reporting to debtor registers and excluded the right of withdrawal. The clauses must be removed and the sanction published.
Agents must not pass management and signing costs on to tenants through mandatory services or add-on contracts; standard clauses in tenancy agreements should be reviewed regularly.
Unfair terms and charges in tenancy agreements
- Authority / court
- Ministerio de Derechos Sociales, Consumo y Agenda 2030
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail
- Legal basis
- Verbraucherschutzrecht (in der Pressemitteilung nicht einzeln zitiert); Ley 12/2023, de 24 de mayo, por el derecho a la vivienda (Verbot, Verwaltungs- und Vertragskosten auf Mieter abzuwälzen)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Published
- 8 Apr 2026
- Consumo multa con 3,6 millones de euros a Alquiler Seguro por prácticas abusivas contra sus inquilinos (08.04.2026) Press release of an authority
Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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30 Jan 2026 Jim's Realty Pty Ltd (früher Agape Property Group)WA: record 225,000 AUD fine for estate agency over trust account and bond breaches €132,345
On 30 January 2026 the Perth Magistrates Court convicted Jim's Realty Pty Ltd on 35 charges – client money not credited to the trust account, unlawful withdrawals, improper records and tenancy bonds lodged late or not at all – and fined it 225,000 AUD plus 577.50 AUD in costs. A forensic audit commissioned by Consumer Protection WA (the consumer protection division of Western Australia) had identified 57 unexplained withdrawals totalling more than 334,915 AUD. According to the regulator it is the largest fine ever imposed on an estate agency in Western Australia; the company has been in liquidation since 2024.
Trust money and tenancy bonds require complete records and timely lodgement; irregularities in the annual audit are a warning sign that must be resolved immediately.
Handling client money in trust accounts and timely lodgement of tenancy bonds
- Authority / court
- Consumer Protection WA (Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety) / Perth Magistrates Court
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail
- Legal basis
- Real Estate and Business Agents Act 1978 (WA); Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA)
- Action
- Fine
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Culpability
- intentional
- Repeat case
- yes
- Mitigating circumstances
- None; according to the release, the court found no mitigating factors despite the liquidation.
- Published
- 11 Feb 2026
Original amount 225,000 AUD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 30 Jan 2026.
Checked against the official source on 3 Oct 2026 · Direct link
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27 Sep 2024 a US landlord of single-family homesLandlord pays 48 million USD in FTC settlement over hidden mandatory fees €43m
According to the FTC, the large US landlord of single-family homes advertised monthly rents without mandatory additional fees (for example for smart home technology or utility management), which could add up to more than 1,700 USD a year and only appeared in the lease; further allegations concerned withheld security deposits and evictions. Under the settlement, the landlord is paying 48 million USD for refunds and must include mandatory fees in the advertised price.
Unavoidable fees belong in the first advertised price, not in the contract documents.
- Authority / court
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing
- Legal basis
- Section 5 FTC Act
- Action
- Disgorgement of profits
- Status of proceedings
- final
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Employees
- 1,000 to 9,999
- Published
- 24 Sep 2024
Original amount 48,000,000 USD, converted at the ECB reference rate of 27 Sep 2024.
- FTC, Pressemitteilungen (Übersicht) (Entscheidung 2024) Press release of an authority
- SEC, EDGAR Unternehmensberichte (Suche) (Entscheidung 2024) Official register or notice
Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 4 · Company name anonymised since 27 Sep 2026 · Direct link
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29 Feb 2024 a Japanese homebuilding group and four group companiesHomebuilding group and four homebuilders: orders over 'No. 1' claims without objective survey Order
The holding company of a homebuilding group and four group companies advertised custom-built homes in 2022 and 2023 on websites, in social media posts and in flyers as 'No. 1' in three categories, such as the range of building plots on offer and 'high quality at low cost'. The underlying survey only asked for impressions of selected providers' websites and did not check whether respondents knew the services; on 29 February 2024 a cease-and-desist order was issued against each of the five companies.
Ranking and 'No. 1' claims require an objective survey of actual customers; a website impression test run by a service provider is not sufficient.
'No. 1' claims and rankings
- Authority / court
- Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁, CAA)
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing
- Legal basis
- Art. 7 Abs. 1 i. V. m. Art. 5 Nr. 1 Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (不当景品類及び不当表示防止法, Gesetz Nr. 134/1962)
- Action
- Order
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Published
- 1 Mar 2024
- Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁, CAA), Veröffentlichung der Behörde (Entscheidung 2024) Decision of an authority
Checked against the official source on 7 Oct 2026 · Company name anonymised since 28 Feb 2026 · Direct link
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16 Sep 2022 LG Hamburg: advertise star ratings only with the number of reviews and the period covered Order
A platform matching property sellers with estate agents advertised average star ratings without stating the number, period and distribution of the reviews. In an action brought by the Wettbewerbszentrale, the Regional Court of Hamburg (LG Hamburg) ordered it to cease and desist insofar as the total number and period were missing; the further claim for a breakdown by star category was dismissed by the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg (OLG Hamburg) and the BGH (judgment of 25 July 2024).
Anyone advertising with average ratings must at least state the number of underlying reviews and the period they cover.
Advertising with customer reviews
- Authority / court
- Landgericht Hamburg (Revision der Klägerin zum Umfang beim BGH)
- Area of law
- Consumer protection and online retail · Fake reviews
- Legal basis
- §§ 3, 5a Abs. 1, 8 UWG
- Action
- Order
- Status of proceedings
- unknown
- Sector
- Construction and real estate
- Published
- 25 Jul 2024
- Bundesgerichtshof, Pressemitteilungen (Übersicht) (Entscheidung 2022) Court press release
Checked against the official source on 28 Sep 2026 · Version 5 · Company name anonymised since 16 Sep 2024 · Direct link