In what appeared to be the very first case of its kind in Canberra, a pest controller has been fined $14,000 after failing to provide a termite barrier certificate to two homeowners.

It meant the homeowners could not sell or refinance the properties, which also decreased in value from when they were built in 2015.

On Tuesday, the owner of the company also copped criticism from the magistrate hearing the case, who described his conduct as "reprehensible".

Without the certificate, which was proof a termite barrier had been installed, the homeowners were unable to get a "substantiated certificate of use and occupancy", which meant they were unable to sell the newly constructed homes in Crace and Casey.

The pest controller was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

In mitigation, the defendant’s lawyer said her client was originally unaware of the requirements, but had later pleaded guilty once he realised he had to comply with the obligations.

He had been working in the pest control business for nearly 30 years with an unblemished record, but he was now very ill and the company would likely cease operating, she said.

While the certificate is required by law to be provided, when approached by both the homeowners and Access Canberra, the defendant seemed "to go out of his way to be difficult", Special Magistrate Dominic Mulligan said.

He refused to provide the certificate to one owner, prompting them to contact Access Canberra who took up contacting the defendant, putting him formally on notice of his legal requirements.

He replied to Access Canberra, saying the notice was defective and that any further attempts by the government to serve notices on him would be deemed as harassment. Following complaints from the second property's owners, the defendant responded to Access Canberra saying the information requirement was technically incorrect, and that he was unable to assist, court documents said.

Mr Mulligan said instead of helping people, the defendant engaged in "ongoing and reprehensible conduct", when he could have at any step provided the information to owners, who were in distress.

"Leaving aside the legalities ... a person in his situation could have assisted the owners at any stage having received those requests. He chose not to."

Instead, the magistrate said, the defendant chose to rely on legal obligations, even though he was mistaken about those obligations.

Outside court, one of the homeowners, who had been living in the property since it was built, told Fairfax Media she had finally received the termite certificate, for which she was thankful.

On Tuesday in the ACT Magistrates Court, Mr Mulligan fined the company $7,000 for each offence of failing to meet a requirement.

The maximum fine is $37,500 per offence for a company.

Edited article from the Canberra Times

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