New Legislation, the real test. February 2005 RETURN
We are delighted that the parameters of sale price quoting by agents has been tightened. The general public now has more accurate information provided to them in property representations and certainly a step closer to the standards we set. We have always thought any person should be able to receive accurate and professional advice by so called industry experts. Conversely after 12 months of new legislation for Auction Sales it seems only one instance of illegal dummy bidding has been prosecuted. With such little evidence, this dispels the media theory that the practice was rife in our industry. We applaud the theory of ethical practice yet one wonders whether the scare mongering was worth the effort. In our opinion prosecution for fraud & massive fines under the existing Trade Practices Act would eliminate the need for new Legislation. The accompanying media process put a huge dent in buyer confidence from which it still has not fully recovered. Consequently it nearly derailed the most transparent form of property purchase, the Public Auction. We would have preferred the State Government to concentrate on preventing unlicensed traders selling property investment schemes that have illegally reaped millions out of the mum & dad investors and redirected income away from our industry. This has far more reaching consequences to both our industry and the financial health or confidence of the investing public.
We are delighted that the parameters of sale price quoting by agents has been tightened. The general public now has more accurate information provided to them in property representations and certainly a step closer to the standards we set. We have always thought any person should be able to receive accurate and professional advice by so called industry experts. Conversely after 12 months of new legislation for Auction Sales it seems only one instance of illegal dummy bidding has been prosecuted. With such little evidence, this dispels the media theory that the practice was rife in our industry. We applaud the theory of ethical practice yet one wonders whether the scare mongering was worth the effort. In our opinion prosecution for fraud & massive fines under the existing Trade Practices Act would eliminate the need for new Legislation. The accompanying media process put a huge dent in buyer confidence from which it still has not fully recovered. Consequently it nearly derailed the most transparent form of property purchase, the Public Auction. We would have preferred the State Government to concentrate on preventing unlicensed traders selling property investment schemes that have illegally reaped millions out of the mum & dad investors and redirected income away from our industry. This has far more reaching consequences to both our industry and the financial health or confidence of the investing public.