Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Victor Dominello today announced a bill aimed at cracking down on underquoting will be introduced to Parliament next week.

Mr Dominello said the bill fulfils an election commitment and protects consumers.

“The NSW Government is overhauling the current laws to strengthen consumer protection,” Mr Dominello said.

“Underquoting is illegal and misleads potential buyers looking for their dream home.”

Reforms to the Property Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 will include the following:

• Agents will be required to provide evidence of their estimated selling price to the vendor and this estimate must be stated in the agency agreement.
• When marketing a property an agent must only use the estimated selling price provided in the agency agreement.
• If a price is quoted in any advertisement or representations about the likely selling price of the property, this amount must be the estimated selling price stated in the agency agreement.
• Advertisements and representations that say “offers over” or “offers above” or any similar statement will be prohibited.
• Agents will be required to keep a register of prices quoted on a property whether these are provided to the vendor or prospective purchasers.

In addition to the current penalty of $22,000, agents found guilty of underquoting will also have to forfeit any commission or fees from the sale.

“There have been no successful prosecutions made under the current Act in over 13 years – this reform is long overdue,” Mr Dominello said.