A Queensland agent advertises a property for private sale with a price guide of $450,000 to $480,000, but the vendor has said they will not sell for less than $520,000. Which law has potentially been breached?
Correct Answer
A) Australian Consumer Law: misleading conduct and false representations about price
Advertising a price guide well below what the vendor will accept misleads buyers about the likely price. That breaches the Australian Consumer Law, which applies in Queensland through the Fair Trading Act 1989, by prohibiting misleading or deceptive conduct and false or misleading representations about price. The Property Occupations Act 2014 separately bars price guides for auctions, but this is a private sale.
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A real estate agent updates the price guide for an auction property three times during the campaign, each time increasing it based on buyer feedback. What compliance issue might this create under current legislation?