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The state’s real estate institute has clapped back at the Victorian government’s $3.8 million blitz against underquoting.
Following on from the state government’s announcement of a “dedicated taskforce” to quell the issue, the Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Quentin Kilian has hit out at the reasoning behind the latest move by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Speaking to Real Estate Business for this week’s Secrets of the Top 100 Agents episode, Mr Kilian has not only queried the reasoning behind the creation of the taskforce but also expressed concern about the fact there was “absolutely no consultation” on the issue ahead of time.
Claiming that there seems to be an “ongoing obsession” with underquoting by the state government, the CEO believes “the reality is that there are [already] good strong laws in place”.
“The government went about the task of putting legislation in place which says ‘here’s what you can do, and here’s what you can’t do. And if you do the things you can’t do, you will get a fine’,” Mr Kilian said.
Adding that the likes of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and the courts are already equipped to provide penalties for when Victorian agents do break the laws around underquoting, he commented that the REIV “fail[s] to see the need to spend $4 million of taxpayers’ funding on something that is really not justified”.
Mr Kilian also raised the idea that there is no evidence that has been presented to suggest that the issue of underquoting is so “out of hand” to warrant the necessity of a dedicated taskforce.
With the government having illustrated in its own statement that there have only been 13 instances of underquoting prosecuted since 2015, the CEO raised that the real estate industry employs 15,000 people across Victoria.
“I absolutely, unequivocally state that we have zero tolerance for breaking the rules, or even twisting the rules, but to spin $4 million on a taskforce — an unannounced and consulted taskforce — because you had 13 instances since 2015, seems a little bit of an overkill reaction to this,” he said.
The CEO’s comments come as the REIV awaits the handing down of the Victorian Property Market Review, which was initially expected by Mr Kilian to have taken place in June.
With underquoting one of the issues raised within this review, his belief is that this taskforce has jumped the gun on action when “there is no sign of this report” being released.
“I asked the department in September and I got the sound of crickets. The government goes into caretaker mode in mid-October to lead into the elections. We are now [in] mid-September. There is no sign of this report,” Mr Kilian shared.
With the REIV claiming that they would enter consultation with the government ahead of the review’s public release, the CEO said the unreleased report “has been used as an excuse” for the underquoting crackdown.
“On one hand, we’ve been promised stakeholder consultation before the release of a report. And on the other hand, we have the government grabbing headlines by coming out and announcing [a] taskforce tied to the report that has no consultation whatsoever prior to that release,” Mr Kilian said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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