PHOTO: FILE

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

The buyer realized the mistake when she received a call about her first home owner’s grant application and was informed that the lot number on her application did not match official records.

The error involved two adjacent street-front, strata-titled lots in the Perth suburb of Camillo, both owned by the same sellers.

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

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

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The real estate agent failed to notice the discrepancy during the sales process, resulting in a $7000 fine by the State Administrative Tribunal.

The agency did not detect that the lot on the purchased certificate of title did not match the lot on the strata plan intended for sale.

As a result, the certificate of title was issued in the buyer’s name for the wrong property.

Following action by Consumer Protection, the real estate agency was fined $7000 by the State Administrative Tribunal for selling the wrong property to the buyer.

The SAT found that the agency breached the Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct by failing to exercise due care, diligence, and skill in preparing the sales agreement.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake expressed disappointment that the error was not identified at any stage during the sale process.

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

“Agents must ensure they have proper procedures in place to prevent such errors, which could result in disciplinary action.”

“There was no way for the new homeowner to know they were being sold the wrong property. However, buyers can put their minds at ease by asking their real estate agent whether they have properly checked the property information before signing a legally binding contract.”

SOURCE: YAHOO