The Latest In Real Estate Deception
It appears that estate agents now have a new weapon in their auction deception armory. Street theatre!
Gary Lapersonne, writing as “Secret Agent” in the Domain section of The Sunday Age (Domain p.2 Sunday Age 7 May, 2006) reports on claims that a Melbourne real estate agency is employing professional actors to pretend that they are competing buyers.
According to Lapersonne,
“They don’t bid; just look like they are about to by appearing nervous, holding each other etc.
Lapersonne concludes,
“You’re told something like, ‘the reserve price is X, pay it or we’re going to start dealing with the other couple and you miss out’.”
“Clever thinking, but their appearance is misleading, even deceptive and possibly illegal.”
We can assist Gary Lapersonne by confirming that if, as the result of a trick, a purchaser pays more for a property than he or she would otherwise have paid, a serious criminal offence has occurred.
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