This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MELBOURNE real estate agency Fletcher & Parker (Balwyn) has been fined a record $880,000 and $40,000 in costs by the Federal Court for underquoting.
The court found Fletcher and Parker (Balwyn) – operating as the “Fletchers” Blackburn and Canterbury offices engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, and to have made false or misleading representations about the sale of land.
They will be forced to pay $880,000 in fines, $40,000 in costs to Consumer Affairs Victoria and implement a program to educate its agents about their legal obligations.
This penalty eclipses the previous recorded handed by the court of $420,000 to Hocking Stuart Richmond in October last year.
Fletchers’ record penalty comes a week after the Federal Court slapped a $160,000 fine to Manningham Property Group Pty Ltd (trading as Hocking Stuart Doncaster) for underquoting nine properties in Melbourne’s east.
The case was a result of ongoing investigations by Consumer Affair Victoria (CAV) through their Taskforce Vesta, which found that Fletcher’s marketed and negotiated the sale of 22 properties in Melbourne’s east during 2015 either knowing the vendors would not sell for a price within the listed range, or that the property was unlikely to sell for the price listed.
The court has also ordered Fletchers to appoint a compliance officer to ensure that the program is effectively designed, delivered and maintained and acknowledge their contraventions in the local newspaper in which they advertise, and on property websites, and display a notice in their office for six months.
Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Marlene Kairouz said the record penalty send a clear message to agents.
“Underquoting is dishonest, misleading and against the law – and today’s decision shows that if you do it, you’ll pay the price.
“In the past fortnight the Federal Court has handed down more than $1 million in penalties for underquoting, which is a clear message to all agents that it won’t be tolerated in Victoria.” Minister Kairouz said.
Australian Property Journal
