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A West Melbourne agency has been fined $2k after breaching Victoria’s rental laws by advertising a property without a fixed price.
A West Melbourne real estate agency has agreed to an enforceable agreement, paying a $2,035 fine and introducing compliance measures, following the advertising of a rental property without specifying a fixed price.
On 16 August 2024, CAN Estate Agents Pty Ltd, of which Qi Zhao was the sole director, advertised a property on realestate.com.au without a fixed price but with the words "Contract Agent", resulting in a direct breach of Victoria’s renting laws.
Two days later, CAN amended the listing description and fixed the advertisement to display the rent at $750 per week.
Despite amending the listing within 48 hours, CAN Estate Agents came under the watchdog's scrutiny after receiving an infringement notice and beginning an investigation.
While initially disputing the infringement, Zhao ultimately admitted his mistake and, on 1 October 2025, signed an enforceable undertaking with CAV, agreeing to pay the penalty and commence education and training to prevent future breaches.
Following the breach, the watchdog said it remains committed to stamping out behaviour and offences that put renters’ safety and security at risk.
“We take reports of rental law breaches very seriously and will investigate and take action when necessary,” a spokesperson told REB.
As part of its measures to curb the issue, in October, CAV’s rental taskforce partnered with online property platforms to block unlawful rental bidding.
Realestate.com.au and domain.com.au have upgraded their platforms to ensure only a single, fixed price is included on rental listings.
As part of its crackdown on illegal advertisements, CAV’s task force has issued over 50 infringements totalling more than $600,000 in fines, along with 100 official warnings, across 2024 and 2025.
The task force has also initiated criminal prosecutions against several estate agencies for breaches of the renting laws.
Additionally, from 25 November, new reforms will ban agents and landlords from accepting unsolicited rent increase offers from tenants, expanding on existing laws that prohibit them from seeking such offers.
You might also like: [Rental bidding crackdown: Property platforms adopt fixed pricing]
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