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Consumer Affairs Victoria is pursuing court proceedings against a north-eastern agency for alleged underquoting during a recent sale.
The watchdog has launched an investigation against Barry Plant Manningham, a prominent Melbourne agency, following consumer reports that the agency failed to provide a reasonable estimated selling price on an Ivanhoe townhouse.
The consumer watchdog’s dedicated underquoting taskforce filed charges against the agency on 13 March, following allegations that the agency had “refused to provide a reasonable estimated selling price on two separate occasions”.
The charges relate to quotes supplied for the three-bedroom home that sold for $1.538 million at auction in July 2023, a figure which Consumer Affairs Victoria stated is “about 40 per cent above the highest end of the price range” given by the agency during the marketing process.
Barry Plant chief executive officer Lisa Pennell refuted the claims of underquoting, stressing that the agency has been cooperating with the investigation.
“While surprised these allegations have now been made, the office will continue to willingly cooperate in the process with Consumer Affairs Victoria,” Pennell said.
According to Pennell and the Barry Plant Manningham directorial team – which includes Spiro Drossos, Mark Di Giulio, and Theo Politis – the Ivanhoe property in question was initially launched to market with a price guide of $900,000 to $950,000.
The guide was then “lifted within the first few days to $1 million to $1.1 million after initial buyer feedback,” Pennell explained.
The CEO noted that the reason why a low price guide was initially given for the townhouse in question was that it “has several negative aspects for buyers, including being largely unrenovated, unfenced, in front of an off-leash dog park and directly facing public toilets within metres of the front door”.
On the day of the auction, Barry Plant reported that the vendor’s reserve was $1.04 million.
The network stated that two bidders who were buyers’ advocates acting on behalf of purchasers “pushed the price well beyond the vendor and agent’s expectations with extremely competitive and determined bidding”.
In the opinion of the director, Spiro Drossos, the result achieved on the auction day was “solely due to the highly competitive bidding by two buyer advocates on the day – an anomaly that does happen from time to time”.
Drossos reportedly participated in a lengthy interview with Consumer Affairs Victoria about the Ivanhoe property prior to the watchdog’s announcement that criminal charges would be pressed.
In announcing the criminal charges, Nicole Rich, director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, stated that the taskforce is continuing its commitment to cracking down on underquoting.
“Buying a home is one of the biggest investments most people will make in their lifetime,” Rich stated.
“We’re committed to ensuring that buyers have the accurate pricing information they need while house-hunting.”
Consumer Affairs Victoria stressed its commitment to “[protecting] buyers from unprofessional and unlawful conduct which disadvantages them”.
Agents who are found to have engaged in underquoting will face fines of over $11,000 or penalties over $38,000 for each breach under the Estate Agents Act 1980.
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