Victorian real estate agent accused of underquoting
Exclusive: A Victorian real estate agent facing disciplinary proceedings for alleged underquoting has ducked for cover as one of his staffers pushed A Current Affair out of their office.
Nicholas Skapoulas and his agency, Nicholas Scott Real Estate, will be hauled before Victoria's Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where he could have his licence suspended or permanently cancelled.
He is the first to face disciplinary proceedings by Consumer Affairs Victoria's underquoting taskforce.
Nicholas Skapoulas and his agency, Nicholas Scott Real Estate, will be hauled before Victoria's Civil and Administrative Tribunal A Current Affair
Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos told A Current Affair that the Yarraville agency was accused of committing several breaches of underquoting laws for 11 separate properties they were engaged to sell.
Among the allegations are claims that Skapoulas' agency advertised indicative selling prices that were lower than the estimated selling price given to the seller.
"Underquoting is a very dishonest practice that draws prospective home buyers into property sales where they couldn't actually afford the property to begin with," Staikos said.
"Often these are first home buyers."
Despite initially telling A Current Affair he was "happy to chat" and had "nothing to hide", Skapoulas later declined to be interviewed on camera.
He denies the allegations of underquoting and A Current Affair is not suggesting any of his staffers are accused of any wrongdoing.
Since the underquoting taskforce was established in 2022, authorities have received nearly 4000 complaints — a third which have come from other real estate agents.
"The underquoting taskforce has also monitored thousands and thousands of sales campaigns and even attended 250 auctions and in total, has issued fines that total $1.8 million," Staikos said.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Kelly Ryan said the majority of the industry abided by the rules.
"Hopefully over time we can actually weed out those that still continue to deliver on this practice," she said.
Skapoulas and his agency will face VCAT at a later date.
Watch the full video in the player above.
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