Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action), COTA Victoria and Housing for the Aged Action Group have made a joint submission in relation to the remake of the Estate Agents (Professional Conduct) Regulations 2008 (the Regulations).

Key principles that are relevant to the current consultation include that:

•" Clearer obligations of estate agents to prospective tenants and purchasers would be an
important improvement to current consumer protections;
• There is scope to improve the professional conduct rules for estate agents and
conveyancers, particularly in relation to the potential conflict arising in connection with
repeat referrals of clients, for example from developers and estate agents;
• Estate agent obligations must be enforced by a well-resourced and proactive regulator with
strong penalties to deter bad behaviour;
• Internal dispute resolution requirements should, at a minimum, comply with the relevant
Australian Standard for complaints handling. Further, appropriate access to justice is
crucial to improving internal dispute resolution standards, as effective external dispute
resolution services provide an incentive to resolve disputes internally; and
• There should be additional regulation for retirement housing operators acting as estate
agents as this dual role as manager and sales agent creates conflicts of interest. This is
particularly the case where deferred management fees and other exit fees are accruing,
the operator is converting the village from strata title to loan-lease, or the operator has sole
discretion whether to approve a new purchaser."

To view the Submission click here

To view the other relevant CALC submissions attached to this submission click here and here