Paying a buyer’s agent, a guide by DottoThe fee note

Page 06 · Complaints

Complaints about a buyer’s agent, and where they go

Every state covered here starts in the same place: raise the problem with the agent first. If that fails, the state’s regulator or, in Tasmania, the Property Agents Board takes complaints about agents, and in NSW a dispute the regulator cannot negotiate can go to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. This page follows a dispute about a fee or an agreement through each state’s route.

General information, not legal advice. The official places to check are NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading, WA Consumer Protection and the Property Agents Board of Tasmania.

Before any regulator

Start with the agent, and the agreement

NSW Fair Trading suggests referring to your agency agreement where relevant, contacting the agent first, giving them a reasonable timeframe to resolve the problem, and explaining it calmly, clearly and logically. Victoria goes a step further for fees: an agency authority must say where a complaint about commission or expenses can be made, and an agency must have a procedure for resolving complaints and disputes and tell you about it. So in Victoria, the first place to look is the agreement itself.

Five routes

Where a fee dispute goes, state by state

New South Wales

  1. The agent. Try to resolve it directly, with the agreement in hand.
  2. NSW Fair Trading. If you cannot resolve a dispute with your agent, you can lodge a complaint with NSW Fair Trading, which runs a free, voluntary complaint service for disputes involving property professionals, including the sale or purchase of property. It may give you information to help resolve the complaint, record the issues for future compliance work, or contact the other party to try to resolve it.
  3. The tribunal. If Fair Trading cannot negotiate your matter, you can consider taking the dispute to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

Victoria

  1. The agency’s own procedure. The one your authority and your agent should have told you about.
  2. Talk, then write. Consumer Affairs Victoria’s steps are to speak to the business, then send a complaint letter or email and keep a copy.
  3. Consumer Affairs Victoria. If it is still unresolved, it may offer its voluntary dispute services, where the problem is within its jurisdiction, you have made a reasonable attempt to resolve it, legislation or contractual rights appear to have been breached, and the problem has a reasonable chance of being resolved, among other conditions on its page.

Queensland

  1. The agent, in writing. Explain the problem and what you want done to fix it.
  2. The industry body. If the agent rejects the complaint, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland can advise, if the agent is a member.
  3. The Office of Fair Trading. If you still have no success, make a formal complaint. You might also be able to claim compensation if you have suffered a financial loss.

Queensland’s claim for financial loss covers set situations, such as an agent who steals or misuses money you trusted them to pass on, or who doesn’t disclose a beneficial interest, and its first instruction is to try to settle the claim with the agent first.

Western Australia

  1. Talk to the trader. Explain the problem calmly, ask for what you want, and give them a chance to fix it.
  2. Put it in writing, and keep records: who you spoke to and when, and copies of agreements, letters and invoices.
  3. Consumer Protection. If you and the trader can’t agree, it may be able to help; its online complaint forms are the quickest way to lodge. Its buyer’s agent fact sheet points to the same complaint page for anyone dissatisfied with an agent’s conduct.

WA adds two protections. If your agent is licensed or registered in WA, the Fidelity Guarantee Account protects you should the agent, or someone they employ, steal or misuse your money; and the Australian Consumer Law may give a right to a refund, compensation or cancellation if the service fails to meet it.

Tasmania

  1. The agent, or someone senior. The Property Agents Board suggests first talking to the agent, explaining the issue and the outcome you want, or raising it with a more senior person at the agency.
  2. The Board, in writing. A formal complaint is made on the Board’s own form, describing the agent’s conduct, with copies of supporting material. The Board sends a copy to the agent so they can respond.

Know what each step can do

A complaint about conduct is not a refund

Tasmania’s Board is unusually plain about this. It can investigate conduct that appears to be unsatisfactory professional conduct, professional misconduct or a conviction for a serious offence, but it has no power to enforce a legally binding contract or to cancel one, to make an agent pay damages or compensation, or to bring legal action against an agent over alleged negligence. It may not be able to deal with a complaint made more than 2 years after the conduct.

The other states describe the same split in their own words. NSW Fair Trading’s service is voluntary and the tribunal is the next step when it cannot negotiate a matter; Consumer Affairs Victoria’s dispute services are voluntary; and Queensland separates a formal complaint from a claim for financial loss. If what you want is money back, find out at the start which body can order it.

Everywhere else

Other states and territories

This guide does not set out the routes in South Australia, the ACT or the Northern Territory; for those, look for your own state or territory government’s guidance on complaints about agents. For a dispute that turns on the fee itself, take the fee clauses and the signed agreement with you.