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Consumer Affairs Victoria has initiated disciplinary action against a Yarraville real estate agency over multiple alleged breaches of Victoria’s underquoting laws.
In its efforts to continue policing agents who practise underquoting, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) has launched legal action against Nicholas Skapoulas and his business, Nicholas Scott Real Estate.
The action follows the Victoria underquoting taskforce’s ongoing visits in Melbourne’s north-east suburbs to monitor sales campaigns and auction activities.
After nearly 30 years of industry experience, Skapoulas and his agency have been referred to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for allegedly breaching Victoria’s underquoting laws.
CAV’s underquoting taskforce alleged that the agency issued statements of information for 11 different properties that did not comply with underquoting obligations.
The breaches included listing indicative selling processes below the estimated selling price provided to the vendor during advertisements and omitting the median selling price or comparable properties in the area.
In addition, CAV said Nicholas Scott Real Estate agency allegedly failed to provide documentation as required under a statutory notice issued by the taskforce.
By laws, Victorian real estate agents must supply a statement of information for every property they sell.
The documents must include an indicative selling price, the median selling price in the suburb, and details of at least three comparable recently sold properties to ensure buyers have access to information regarding which properties fall within their affordability range.
Due to the breaches, Skapoulas and his agency may face disciplinary consequences, which could include the suspension or permanent revocation of the agency’s real estate licence.
Since 2017, underquoting has been banned in Victoria, resulting in the establishment of the underquoting taskforce in 2022 to ensure compliance by real estate agents.
CAV director Nicole Rich previously commented that the taskforce is “stamping out underquoting and creating a fair market for buyers and sellers” in the Victorian market.
A date for the VCAT hearing is yet to be confirmed.
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