How real estate agents get away with lying

The age old question of how do you know a politician is lying, is quite simply put when his (or now her) lips are moving.

Fraud in the real estate industry in Australia costs consumers dearly, every year and the government has very little intention to remedy this, as it is a 'stakeholder' in the fraud, raking in the dollars.

While the same may apply to realtors as it does to politicians when it comes to lying, there is another way to lie, and that is by staying silent.

MANY realtors keep quiet, when asked about a premises that they have been seconded to sell.

They know about the property, its faults and even structural issues, yet they claim they know nothing.

How can you prove it?

It's very difficult, but not impossible.

According to Consumer Affairs Victoria, the following is stated about silence.

Silence

A business can break the law by failing to give relevant information to a customer.

Silence can be misleading or deceptive when, for example:

• one person fails to alert another to facts known only to them, and the facts are relevant to a decision
• important details a person should know are not conveyed to them
• a change in circumstance meant information already provided was incorrect.

Whether silence is misleading or deceptive will depend on the circumstances of each case.