Whether you are renting, buying or selling a home, real estate agents must not mislead you and must use fair contract terms in line with federal, state and territory laws. It is unlawful for real estate agents to: It makes no difference whether the agent meant to mislead or deceive you—it is how you perceived the conduct that matters. To reduce the chances of misleading you, real estate agents must take care to: A real estate agent might make false claims about the price by: Dummy bidding is when an agent or a person acting on the vendor's behalf pretends to be genuinely interested in purchasing a property by making bids at an auction. When dummy bids continue after the reserve price has been reached, the genuine bidder is competing with a false buyer and is pushed to pay as much as they can. Unless the dummy bidding is fully disclosed at both the start of the auction and at the time the bid is made, it is likely to be considered misleading and therefore unlawful. Dummy bidding is not the same as vendor bidding. Vendor bidding is an acceptable practice used by a seller to make sure the property reaches its reserve price. With vendor bidding, the identity of the person making the bids is announced by the auctioneer at the commencement of the auction and each time a bid is made. Vendor bids must not continue once bidding for the property has reached its reserve price. Contact your local state or territory consumer protection agency Consumer rights & guarantees
The legislative history at the back of the Act provides detail about the past and future operation of the Act. |