Our Consumer Affairs Underquoting Taskforce kicked off its autumn sales season inspection blitz on Saturday, monitoring more than 50 property auctions in the Doncaster area to check compliance with underquoting laws.
The taskforce has been monitoring sales campaigns in Melbourne’s north-east, following complaints about real estate agent conduct in the area.
During the blitz, taskforce officers are speaking with estate agents and consumers, checking for estate agent compliance with auction and sales rules and monitoring for potential underquoting.
Since its launch in 2022, the taskforce has now issued more than 220 official warnings and more than 160 fines to estate agents caught breaching their obligations. Fines have totalled more than $1.8 million.
The taskforce has now monitored more than 2,300 sales campaigns and attended more than 220 auctions.
Investigations have also led to court proceedings for estate agent and Australian Consumer Law breaches.
Underquoting is a still a big concern for homebuyers in Melbourne’s property market and is one of the top real estate issues reported to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
There have been more than 3,740 complaints through the Consumer Affairs dedicated underquoting webform from purchasers, estate agents and buyers’ advocates. These reports and other intelligence are used to identify agents who may be breaking the law.
More than 30% of the webform reports in 2024 were made by other estate agents, showing that agents doing the right thing are no longer willing to tolerate having to compete against unfair and unlawful practices in their industry.
New laws recently passed by the Victorian Parliament and due to come into effect later this year will increase the penalties for underquoting and other related estate agent legal breaches. These will mean more protections for Victorians looking for a home and will ensure that agents who do the right thing aren’t unfairly disadvantaged.
If you suspect underquoting, report it to us.
Find more information about underquoting.