Jarrod Perry, Hutton & Hutton and Sallyanne Smith sued in court
One of Brisbane’s top real estate agencies is being sued for an alleged sweetheart deal which saw the seller short-changed hundreds of thousands of dollars, documents claim.
Southeast
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One of Brisbane’s top real estate agencies is being sued by the vendor of a cottage in an exclusive riverside suburb over claims a home was sold to the agency’s principal in a sweetheart deal which undervalued the property by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Vendor Lindsay Fawdry lodged the claim in Brisbane District Court last week against Hutton & Hutton Inner East principal Jarrod Perry and agent Sallyanne Smith.
Mr Perry said his agency intended to “vigorously defend” the allegations.
Mr Fawdry is seeking $285,000, the amount he claims his property at 110 Stuart St, Bulimba, was undersold to Mr Perry by, plus interest.
According to the documents, Mr Fawdry engaged H&H Inner East on January 8 this year to sell his property.
The following day, Mr Fawdry claims Ms Smith contacted him, advising an offer of $915,000 had been made on the property by Mr Perry.
He claims Ms Smith advised him the offer was “a fair price based upon sale prices of comparable properties” and that it was “particularly attractive as it did not impose any conditions”.
That same day, Mr Fawdry claims he signed the contract, with settlement to occur on March 10.
The claim alleges, however, that the true value of the property, as at January 9, was actually between $1,175,000 – $1,200,000.
Mr Fawdry says Ms Smith “knew or ought reasonably to have known that the purchase price was less than the true and accurate value of the property” and that Mr Perry was “conflicted between his duty to (Mr Fawdry) and his interest under the contract as purchaser”.
“(Mr Perry) preferred his own interest to that of the (Mr Fawdry),” the claim alleges, and that this was “unconscionable”.
Mr Fawdry alleges that the effect of this was to breach the Australian Consumer Law by way of making “false or misleading representations”.
H&H Inner East are yet to respond to the claim.
When contacted by the South-East Advertiser, Mr Perry said his agency intended to “vigorously defend” the allegations.
Mr Fawdry, via solicitor Brendan Long, declined to comment.
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