Agent sells buyer wrong property

A real estate agent has been fined after a shocked homeowner discovered they had been sold the wrong property.

The buyer found out about the mistake when she received a call about her first home owners grant application, and was informed the lot number on her application did not match official records.

The error related to two lots of adjacent, street front, strata-titled land in the Perth suburb of Camillo, which belonged to the same sellers.

The two certificates of title listed street addresses that did not match the physical street addresses of the lots.

During the preparation of a sale agreement in March 2022, the agency John O’Neil & Son relied on the street address given by the seller to obtain the certificate of title and strata plan.

Agent sells buyer wrong property

The agency failed to notice that the lot on the purchased certificate of title did not correspond with the lot on the strata plan that was planned to be sold.

The mistake was not spotted during the sale and resulted in the certificate of title being issued in the buyer’s name for the wrong property.

Selling the wrong property to the buyer resulted in the real estate agency being fined $7000 by the State Administrative Tribunal following action by Consumer Protection.

The SAT found the agency breached the Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct when it failed to exercise due care, diligence and skill preparing a sales agreement.

Consumer Protection commissioner Trish Blake said it was disappointing the error had not been picked up at any stage during the sale process.

“Mistakes of this nature are unacceptable and represent major breaches of the laws that are designed to protect both buyers and sellers of real estate in WA,” she said.

“Agents must ensure that they have the proper procedures in place to prevent any errors being made which could result in disciplinary action.

“There was no way for the new homeowner to know they were being sold the wrong property.

“But buyers could put their mind at ease by asking their real estate agent whether they have properly checked the property information before signing a legally binding contract.”