Warning Issued to Perth Real Estate Agency Over Possible Conflict of Interest

Western Australia's consumer protection authority has issued a warning to Perth real estate agency Ideal Realty WA over possible conflict of interest.

The issue arose from a house sale in the eastern suburb of Kenwick, where agents Roy Lee and Lynn Dean purchased the property through their company Generation Two PTY LTD. The buyer, Chao 'Jack' Wu, had entered into an exclusive agreement with Ideal Realty on April 23 to sell the house.

However, Wu suspected that the buyer's details may have been altered after the contract was signed and ordered corporate documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which showed that Lee and Dean were the owners of Generation Two. The company was created and registered at the address of Ideal Realty's office on the same day that the offer for the house was made.

Wu claims that after he raised the matter, the agents agreed to pay him an additional 10,000 Australian dollars and waive an agency commission of the same amount. The form disclosing the agents' interest in the purchase was sent to him almost six weeks after the contract was signed.