MBL Property Group Pty Ltd., also known as Ray White New Farm, and its agent Hamish Bowman, have received a notice of civil penalty in regard to a price advertised for a property in Fortitude Valley last October.

The marketing material for the property had the price as "from $645,000". But when a prospective customer made an offer over that price, Mr Bowman advised the consumer that vendors wanted offers over $749,000.

When the individual then complained online to Ray White New Farm, Mr Bowman again replied personally to the complaint, saying that the price was not deceptive because of the word "from". The agency itself did not respond.

The Queensland OFT was then contacted, and after investigating decided that the advertising violated Australian Consumer Law regarding false or misleading representations about land sales.

False or misleading advertising in any industry will not be tolerated, including "from" prices in real estate, said Brian Bauer, Executive Director of OFT.

"Advertised price ranges indicate to buyers if a property may be in their budget, and encourage them to view, assess, and make offers on the property. While competition can push a price higher than anticipated, Queenslanders have the right to expect that any prices advertised reflect what the vendor is prepared to accept.

“In this instance the marketed ‘from’ price was significantly below the price the vendor was looking for, and therefore was misleading.

“This result serves as a warning to other real estate agents that if they breach laws and industry regulations designed to protect consumers, the OFT will not hesitate to take action.”

(What happened to Craig Routledge, Acting Executive Director, from whom we've heard so much lately? Did Bauer fill an empty Executive post? We've seen no news so far.)

Mr Bowman was fined $2,160 and Ray White New Farm, as MBL Property Group Pty Ltd., was fined $10,800.

It should be noted that while OFT may issue a penalty notice based on reasonable grounds that consumer protection laws have been violated, payment of such civil penalty is not an admission of wrongdoing.