Learning About Agents and Agencies Part 3

In this installment we are going to take a look at the limited role that estate agents play in dealing with legal documents and what needs to be done to fulfill the law in regards to who fills out the paperwork.

Agents And Lawyers

While estate agents are allowed to perform some of the legal work involved in a real estate transaction, most of it must be done by a Lawyer Estate Agent. The Estate Agents Act of 1980 determined that the use of contract documents is legal work and stated that an estate agent is not qualified to conduct such work. If an estate agent does engage in filling in the blanks of a contract note they can be punished with a penalty of two years imprisonment. This is a matter which has very serious consequences and is not taken lightly.

If neither one of the parties involved in the sale of a property is represented by a lawyer and a contract has not been drawn up, the estate agent used to be allowed to use a contract note, but the contract note has recently been banned from being used due to confusion over the legality and permanence of the contract. If a contract of sale has been prepared by a lawyer who is not available to attend the execution of the contract, the estate agent is allowed to fill in the blank spaces of the document under Section 53A of the Estate Agents Act of 1980. However the estate agents are only allowed to fill in blanks of specific documents and are not allowed to add in any additional terms or conditions to the contract. They are only allowed to fill in the blank spaces.

In the past there has been some confusion as to what exactly an estate agent is and what their role is. Even the High Court said that the term “agent” is misleading and stated that these agents do not have the authority to act on behalf of a vendor in relation to the contract.

Sean Rasmussen
Property Options Australia
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