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Misleading use of the real estate term "buyer enquiry over" has seen Wellington real estate company Celestine Realty fined $7500 for breaching the Fair Trading Act.
The case follows the sentencing of agent Tim Whitehead last December for advertising a house at "buyer enquiry over $380,000" when he knew the vendor would accept no less than $400,000, net of agent's commission.
The Commerce Commission then prosecuted Celestine Realty, the company Whitehead worked for, for the same Fair Trading Act breaches.
The Wellington District Court judge hearing the case accepted that the company was also responsible for the misleading advertising placed by Whitehead.
"This case reinforces the duty real estate companies have to ensure their agents do not mislead potential buyers about the price a vendor is prepared to accept," said the commission's director of fair trading, Adrian Sparrow.
- NZPA
