It looks like disclosure is an important issue not just in the United States. An Australian agent was fined for failing to disclose to a buyer that a gruesome and very public murder occurred in a home she wanted to purchase. Disclosure is a very important part of a real estate transaction, be it termites or murder. Agents who feel they can pull a fast one and not disclose issues and defects weaken the whole system.Â
The Commissioner of Fair Trading fined father-daughter real estate agents Peter and Ereca Hinton, and LJ Hooker North Ryde, a total of $20,900 after they failed to reveal a North Ryde property they were selling was the home in which Sef Gonzales had stabbed his parents and sister to death in July 2001.
The commissioner said the pair and their agency had failed to act honestly, fairly and professionally in not revealing the grisly history of the house.
Appealing the fines earlier this year, Ms Hinton told the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal (ADT) it was the responsibility of potential buyers to inquire about the house’s history.
Real estate agents lose fine appeal for not disclosing murders in house for sale.
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Surely a judge will look for intent in the case – the intent to deceive and profit from deceit.
I would hate to think that non disclosure per se is enough to be deemed criminal.Such a finding would be to onerous on any sales industry.