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A Robina man was found guilty by the Beaudesert Magistrates Court of making false and misleading representations during the sale of a piece of land in 2015, and has been ordered to pay a fine and make compensation.
Lawrie Phillips pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the Australian Consumer Law, and was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $1,750 in compensation and $96 in court costs.
An Office of Fair Trading investigation also found that Mr Phillips did not hold an appropriate licence or certificate as required under the Property Occupations Act 2014 to undertake the functions of an agent.
The court heard a Canungra couple had approached Mr Phillips in August 2015 at his office at Canungra Realty to purchase a piece of land in the rural town.
Mr Phillips said that he owned the property, and in September, he contacted the couple to accept their offer and invited them to sign the contract and pay a $12,000 deposit.
At this time, Mr Phillips had both, verbally and in writing, made false and misleading representations to the couple that he held the appropriate real estate licence to conduct this sale and that he had ownership of the land and authority to sell it.
All these claims were found to be false as the couple found out seven months after entering into the agreement with Mr Phillips.
The couple had already paid $1,750 for soil testing on the block, which will now be compensated, and they had recovered their deposit prior to court proceedings.
In sentencing, the court considered Mr Phillips’ guilty plea and lack of priors but noted the inappropriate behaviour and how his actions had undermined the integrity of the real estate industry.
Fair Trading acting executive director Craig Routledge said that the case served as a warning to real estate agents that they must comply with all their legal obligations.
“Legislation regulating the conduct of real estate agents exist to protect consumers while maintaining a high standard of professionalism within the industry,” Mr Routledge said.
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