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The Federal Court in Melbourne has fined a real estate agency $330,000 for underquoting on properties, and misleading and deceiving potential buyers.
An ABC news report says Hocking Stuart on Bridge Road at Richmond, Victoria “made false representations to prospective buyers about the likely price of 11 residential properties at Richmond and Kew in 2014 and 2015”.
The agency was fined today after admitting to “all of the allegations” made by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
The agency’s price ranges created the “illusion of a bargain”, according to Justice John Middleton, leaving potential buyers “significantly inconvenienced, disappointed and deceived”.
“Some may have missed the opportunity to buy elsewhere, being lured into a bargain that did not, and was never going to, eventuate,” he said, according to the ABC report.
“Similarly the vendors of other properties, who were not marketing their properties in the same way, may have missed out on getting potential purchasers into their properties.”
The agency earned $148,000 in commissions from the sales, with Justice Middleton noting the $330,000 fine essentially took away these profits.
The case is part of a wider crackdown by Consumer Affairs Victoria on underquoting by real estate agents, with the ABC saying there are 13 other investigations under way.
Hocking Stuart Richmond said in a statement it regretted its mistakes.
“We want to assure our clients and buyers that we’ve already implemented a number of changes to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” the company said.
“We put our agents through a refresher of Hocking Stuart’s rigorous compliance monitoring and training program, and have established a comprehensive compliance process and team within our office.”
CEO of Hocking Stuart Simon Jovanovic said he takes underquoting and accuracy “very seriously” but expressed his disappointment at the punishment.
“We are disappointed with the severity of the penalty handed down and the example being made of our Richmond office for what is an issue that impacts the real estate industry as a whole.”
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