A compliance operation directed at real estate agents in South West and Western Sydney uncovered over 100 breaches of the law relating to the sale and management of property.
Acting Fair Trading Commissioner, Peter Dunphy said inspectors targeted compliance with licensing, completion of professional development, trust account requirements, supervision, underquoting and signage.
“Our inspectors canvassed 31 real estate agencies across South West and Western Sydney and issued over 30 penalties totalling almost $40,000,” Mr Dunphy said.
“Inspectors predominantly uncovered non-compliance with the Rules of Conduct, supervision, licensing and record keeping requirements as well as underquoting.”
Mr Dunphy said that when quoting, agents were responsible for including their reasonable estimate of a property’s likely selling price in the agency agreement and providing evidence to the seller of how the estimate was determined.
He said agents’ responsibilities also included ensuring the highest price in a price range did not exceed the lower price by more than 10 per cent and that agents were not able to use any statements such as “offers over” or “offers above” or “plus”.
“Fair Trading has conducted 12 compliance operations of real estate agents this year and issued almost $400,000 in fines,” Mr Dunphy said.
He said Fair Trading provided a free complaint service for tenants, residents, landlords and agents with real estate and property related matters or disputes.
Further information, including details about the complaint service, is available on the Fair Trading website at this PS News link.
