Purchase Price Fraud: Hidden Rebates

A Warning for Property Owners

With a large number of units and apartments about to flood the Brisbane and Gold Coast property markets, buyers, first home owners and investors are warned to be careful.

Desperate developers seem to employ any means possible to get a sale, including offering ‘rebates’ or ‘discounts’. But here’s the catch! Buyers may unwittingly become a party to fraud and find themselves in all sorts of trouble with the law and with their bank.

So with that in mind it is timely that we reproduce this article we published some time ago, warning of the dangers.

Buyers, Sellers and real estate agents beware: not fully disclosing ‘rebates’ or ‘side agreements’ could amount to fraud

Any side agreement which provides a rebate, cash-back or discount or ‘deal’ that is not written into the contract or transfer document, or where the rebate amount is hidden in a special condition, amounts to fraud against financiers, banks and lenders who lend money on the false property price.

Additionally, this fraud may have significant implications on the Land Titles Registry and the Office of State Revenue, which, with the Queensland Law Society, have imposed rules on all solicitors to prevent this fraud from occurring.

The problem is not the rebate itself, but the failure to disclose the true purchase price. Buyers, Seller and agents need to beware of the following when entering into a contract for land:

• Reference to a ‘rebate’ or ‘discount’
• Inconsistencies between the amount paid at settlement and the amount statedin the contract.
• Amounts hidden in special conditions or side agreements
• Instances where the contract also includes the sale of items such as furniture orcars at an over-inflated value.

If any of these features are present, the Queensland Law Society has instructed lawyers to assume that a fraud is taking place, unless the parties can prove that any hidden payments or rebates have been fully disclosed to the bank, Office of State Revenue or Land Titles Registry.

Fraud is, of course, a crime that can result in the Buyer, Seller and the agent facing jail time and the acting lawyers answering claims of professional misconduct

If a client refuses to disclose a hidden rebate, lawyers are required to end their retainer with their client. Solicitors may also be obliged to inform the bank, Office of State Revenue and Land Titles Registry of the fraud. Furthermore, if the bank finds out about the fraud before settlement, it may refuse the loan, leaving Buyers unable to settle and unhappy Sellers that may want to terminate the contract and sue for damages.

In addition to the risk of jail, any informal or “under the table” agreements about a hidden rebate is next to impossible to enforce and you should talk to a lawyer if such a deal is being negotiated.

Final message: make sure the rebate is referred to in the contract, and take such steps to disclose hidden rebates to your bank, Office of State Revenue and Land Titles Registry

If you have any concerns at all about the contract being presented to you for signing please contact McLaughlin & Associates Lawyers on (07) 3808 7777

John McLaughlin, Principal Director

McLaughlin & Associates, Lawyers