Two real estate agents have to pay $120,000 to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund after they were caught underquoting on 13 Melbourne properties.
Two Melbourne real estate agents have been forced to pay $120,000 after they were caught underquoting 13 properties.
The separate companies are the latest to be nabbed by the state government’s Taskforce Vesta, created to investigate and prosecute deceptive real estate agents.
Both companies will also have to display notices at their offices and website of the action.
They were engaged in misleading price advertising for 13 properties in Melbourne’s outer-east and north-east, the government says.
“Buying a house is a huge investment and Victorians deserve to have accurate, transparent, and reliable information to base their decisions on,” Consumer Affairs Minister Marlene Kairouz said in a statement.
“We’ll continue to investigate, expose, and punish agents who break the law and underquote the value of the properties they are selling.”
Taskforce Vesta has inspected the offices of more than 30 agents, examined 1400 sales files, and launched 14 major investigations since it was created in 2015.
It has resulted so far in six court cases and more than $285,000 in enforceable undertakings from agents.
