Australian Property News

Real estate alert follows house scam

Posted on Monday, September 13 2010 at 4:02 PM

A West Australian landlord says his $485,000 investment property has been sold without his knowledge while he was living abroad because a Perth real estate agent was conned by scammers posing as the homeowner.

The June sale followed a series of emails claiming the owner needed to sell the Karrinyup duplex because of financial hardship.

The landlord has told the Government of Western Australia’s Consumer Protection division that he learnt of the sale last week and returned to Australia, only to find sale of his second investment property was at settlement stage due to the same alleged scam. He says he has since stopped that sale.

An investigation involving the Real Estate and Business Agents Supervisory Board (REBA) and Settlement Agents Supervisory Board (SASB) is under way.

REBA and SASB have distributed an urgent e-bulletin to Western Australia’s real estate and settlement agents advising them of the alleged scam and the need to confirm the identity of property owners.

WA Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll is also urging real estate agents to be vigilant.

“Clearly real estate agents need to take every precaution to ensure they are selling a property on behalf of the rightful owner by demanding proof of identification like a driver’s licence or passport,” she said.

“In light of this alleged scam, a more stringent verification process would be advisable, which may include checking title deeds or asking for evidence of a mortgage being paid against the property.”