The Lies and Lows: Consumers Losing Out

It has been an interesting last week in real estate with so much going on with the Federal election, interest rates and auction clearance rates to name just a few.

To add to the mix we received a complaint from the NSW Office of Fair Trading which had been lodged by a former landlord. Marquette Turner takes extreme care in everything we do and we accept the fact that we are always striving to improve and strengthen our systems and procedures to make our service the very best possible. We realize that we can sometimes be wrong however the NSW Office of Fair Trading seems intent on the concept of guilty until proven innocent.

The complaint was made after the former landlords (husband and wife) of our company completed a 2 day induction program at our Sydney Headquarters. The two clients desperately wanted to become part of Marquette Turner, working as Consultants leasing and selling property through our Melbourne Office. During the two days it became apparent that the two people would not be suited to our company and after discussing our feelings with them they decided to move the management of their property elsewhere and lodge a formal complaint regarding our mismanagement of their property (without making any complaint to us).

Their tenant was devastated when she was told that we would no longer be managing the home and she immediately wrote us a testimonial which was extremely touching (we are happy to share this testimonial with you which can be viewed by seeing the comment to this article or by selecting the attached link).

The disappointment of this is that the current system of lodging a complaint to the NSW Office of Fair Trading is resulting in people making unfounded, untruthful or vindictive claims (with no repercussions to them). It is resulting in bundles of bureaucratic red tape for agencies like Marquette Turner as we waste hours on explaining why we are not guilty of any wrongdoing.

What this also means is that time is being wasted on people who are really abusing the system at the expense of consumers who really need help. The current complaints system must be changed and those found to be fabricating stories must be held to account and prosecuted for doing so. That way the NSW Office of Fair Trading can focus on the issues that really count.

The directors of Marquette Turner have written to our local member The Honourable Clover Moore (Member for Sydney), and The Honourable Linda Burney (NSW Fair Trading Minister), requesting an audience and I will keep you posted with regards to our ongoing efforts to improve the system. Michael Marquette

New South Wales Investment Property Boost

Investing in the residential property market in NSW could become a more attractive prospect following a review currently being conducted into the state’s Residential Tenancy Act.
A change that would make it easier for landlords to evict tenants who are behind in their rent payments is perhaps the most controversial of more than 100 recommendations contained in a discussion paper on laws governing tenants released by NSW Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney.

A focus of the review into residential tenancy is to reduce the level of red tape faced by landlords and real estate agents, particularly through the consolidation of separate laws dealing with the rights of landlords and tenants and those dealing with rental bonds.

Although the proposal to make it easier to evict tenants who have not paid their rent favours landlords, other proposals favour tenants – particularly one suggestion allowing tenants who face eviction by a mortgagee taking possession of their home to hold back two weeks rent to compensate them for relocation costs. From Smart Company, Monday, 24 September 2007; Mike Preston