Richardson and Wrench

9 0.4 Legislation Affecting Misleading Market Opinions or Appraisals by Agents Section 72 of the Property Stock & Business Agents Act 2003 concerning representations on the selling price of residential property: “A real estate agent or employee of an agent must not make a false representation to a seller or prospective seller of residential property as to the agent’s or employee’s true estimate of the selling price of the property.” Section 74 gives the Director-General of the Office of Fair Trading the power to require agents to substantiate their estimate of selling price for residential property. Therefore, they can be called to account for their actions and they must endeavor in both a legal and business sense to be as accurate as possible. The Trade Practices Act, 1974 (Commonwealth) prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct and false representations. An agent expressing an estimate of price for sale or rental is making a representation. Therefore, agents should never offer opinion unless they have undertaken thorough research and have material evidence to back up their estimate of expected selling or rental price. Helpful links for more information: www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au NSW Office of Fair Trading www.accc.gov.au Australian Competition & Consumer Commission www.reia.com.au Real Estate Institute of Australia www.austlii.edu.au Australian Legal Information Institute www.bestpractice.com.au Real estate advice from Robert Bevan