Great Southern realtor Jack Lusty fined $4000 for 2021 Lower King deceitful sale

Albany real estate agent Jack Lusty has been fined for a dodgy sale in May 2021 after he told a buyer a Lower King mudbrick unit was up to council standard despite the fact it had been deemed uninhabitable. Appearing in Perth Magistrates Court on December 16, Lusty pleaded guilty to making a false or misleading representation about the use of land, putting him in breach of Australian Consumer Law. The conviction relates to the sale of a Lower King property on Bon Accord Road in 2021. The property, a mudbrick unit, was classed by the City of Albany as a class 10A un-habitable structure. The homebuyer was only made aware of the council designation when she was approached by a council employee who saw her friend moving furniture into the unit. Lusty wrongly told the homebuyer during a final inspection of the property in May 2021 that it was a “liveable shed” and could be lived in. He had been informed by the City of Albany several months prior that the mudbrick unit did not hold council approval for human habitation. Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake said real estate agents must be honest to homebuyers and sellers during the sale process and disclose known facts to buyers, like occupancy and habitation restrictions. “Every buyer has the right to know the truth about a property, so they can make informed decisions about whether to go ahead with what could likely be one of the biggest investment decisions of their lives,” Ms Blake said. “Had the buyer in this case known the mudbrick unit was uninhabitable, she would have either offered a lower amount or not made an offer at all given the amount of work needed to get this property over the line with council. “This type of offending not only breaches the Australian Consumer Law, it erodes public confidence in the real estate industry. “Consumer Protection will not hesitate to take action against other agents or sales reps found to be making false and misleading representations about properties available for sale on their books.” Lusty was fined $4000 and ordered to pay $1287 in costs.