VIC Real Estate Sale- Misconduct by Agent

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Miss Kylie

Member
25 October 2018
1
0
1
Perth
Hi, I am trying to see if I have a case, and if so does it come under Property Law, Commercial Law or Professional Indemnity or something else?
I currently have me PPR under contract and it has come to my attention that the Real Estate Agent has acted in a less than ethical way, he came to me with a purchaser (my property was not on the market) he was quite persuasive and I trusted him to do the right thing by me as he had promised (I know this was a stupid mistake, I was unwell at the time and suffering from chronic pain and depression and not aware of the shift in market price or changes to zoning of my property making it a development site) In brief these are the issues-
  • The sale price is quite a few hundred thousand dollars under the property's value
  • The Contract of Sale was signed without a valid Section 32
  • The Agent had me backdate the dates on the COS
  • The Agent negotiated a higher commission for himself to get me the best price and then when I was signing the contract he told me to get a higher price I had to pay a commission to an unknown third party of well over $100k and that was built in to the sale price. The Sales Authority states the agents commission as a percentage, no mention of this. The contract of Sale indicates both under commission sharing, however there is no commission sharing statement
  • Most of the negotiations by the real estate agent were in the favor of the purchaser, the agent also refused to write in to the contract my instructions for a lease back as a condition of sale (he told me he would get it but had a more legally binding way) I also instructed he write in the contract that I wanted full confidentiality regarding the sale, I was informed that he had visited people to tell them and try to get their business.
  • I was told the purchasers were Foreign Investors from China, although contract has Au address
  • My solicitor has released all commissions without correct paperwork, they are not replying to my emails now that I have brought this to their attention
I would love to know where I stand and how I can proceed? and how I could get all correspondence from my Agent regarding the Sale, I have a feeling he is receiving additional incentives as well as my commission.
Ideally I would like for the sale not to proceed, however I realise that may not be possible as my issues are with the Agent. Thanks for taking the time to read!