{"id":592298,"date":"2026-04-08T00:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/592298\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T00:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:15:20","slug":"queenslands-seller-disclosure-laws-leaving-some-buyers-gazumped-real-estate-experts-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/592298\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland’s seller disclosure laws leaving some buyers ‘gazumped’, real estate experts warn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland’s seller disclosure laws are driving a “concerning” rise in unethical behaviour like ‘gazumping’, the state’s peak real estate body says.<\/p>\n

Agents say there is growing frustration within the industry over the scheme, which was introduced in August last year to improve transparency in property transactions.<\/p>\n

Sellers must provide a disclosure statement \u2014 known as a Form 2 \u2014 to potential buyers before a contract can be signed, with information including zoning details<\/a>, land contamination, heritage listings, transport resumption plans and rates and water charges.<\/p>\n

Buyers can terminate a contract right up to settlement day, get their entire deposit back, and even claim compensation, if the vendor fails to offer up vital information .<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The seller disclosure scheme came into effect on August 1 last year. (ABC News: Kate Ainsworth)<\/p>\n

‘Buyers aren’t reading it’<\/p>\n

Brisbane real estate agent Brett Andreassen said the statements were ballooning in size, often exceeding 100 pages for apartments and up to 250 pages for houses.<\/p>\n

“There’s more and more pages being added to the searches through the solicitors \u2014 and the buyers aren’t reading it,” Mr Andreassen said.<\/p>\n

“Important things are disclosed in the paperwork but people are just skimming through.”<\/p>\n

“Previously, in the contract, disclosures had to be on one page and it had to be clear as day \u2026 now, it’s being obfuscated,” he said.<\/p>\n

He warned that could leave buyers vulnerable to costly surprises after purchase, with easements, fees, Body Corp levies, defects and other issues “easily missed”.<\/p>\n

“If the buyer signs the contract, they can’t come back and say it wasn’t disclosed,” Mr Andreassen said.<\/p>\n

\"Brisbane<\/p>\n

Brisbane real estate agent Brett Andreassen says buyers are ‘skimming through’ seller disclosure statements that are up to 250 pages long. (ABC News: Alex Brewster)<\/p>\n

“You can’t feign ignorance.”<\/p>\n

Mr Andreassen said sellers were also paying for extensive searches, often repeated by buyers’ solicitors, creating extra expenses for both parties.<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of unnecessary duplication going on,” Mr Andreassen said.<\/p>\n

Queensland-based conveyancer manager Darren Morris said he had encouraged clients to fill out the document themselves, noting it appeared to add minimal value.<\/p>\n

“We do probably around 20 settlements a week \u2026 I haven\u2019t yet seen where the statement is of a major benefit to a buyer,” Mr Morris said.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t think that the legislation and the documentation is providing any use to really anyone at all, apart from the people making money out of supplying it, like us.”<\/p>\n

Mr Morris said the focus should remain on buyer-led searches and due diligence.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Conveyancer manager Darren Morris says he does not believe the Form 2 offers a major benefit to buyers. (ABC News: Stephen Clarke)<\/p>\n

‘Gazumping’ risk increase<\/p>\n

Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive Antonia Mercorella said complexity and delays in preparing the statement had escalated the risk of ‘gazumping’.<\/p>\n

The unfair and unethical, but not illegal, practice occurs when a vendor accepts an offer informally but then sells the property to someone else before the contract has been legally signed.<\/p>\n

“We have seen perhaps that starting to rear its head a little bit,” Ms Mercorella said.<\/p>\n

“What we have heard is in some instances, particularly in \u2026 a fast-moving market \u2026 an offer is verbally accepted \u2026 the buyer is then told a contract will be put together, along with the Form 2 \u2026 and while that Form 2 is being prepared, a better offer comes along that is accepted.”<\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

Queensland’s seller disclosure laws were designed to improve transparency, but can lead to delays. (ABC News: Liz Pickering)<\/p>\n

“There’s an argument that because there’s time required to put the Form 2 together \u2026 and because there’s a delay between that offer being made and the contract being ready \u2026 buyers have been ‘gazumped,'” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Mercorella described the trend as “concerning” but said it was not “widespread”.<\/p>\n

“A verbal offer as a general rule is not enforceable \u2026 it must be in writing, but nonetheless that’s a dreadful situation to be in,” Ms Mercorella said.<\/p>\n

\"Antonia<\/p>\n

Antonia Mercorella said the Real Estate Institute of Queensland had written to the attorney-general about the industry’s concerns. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)<\/p>\n

“It’s not happening at a large scale but one can see how perhaps that risk has been escalated because of the requirement to prepare the Form 2 \u2026 there’s an argument it allows people to come out of the woodwork and make another offer that’s better.”<\/p>\n

“That is not the intent of this regime and it shouldn’t be used in that way,” she said.<\/p>\n

Mortgage broker Rebecca Jarrett-Dalton said the increase was worrying but expected, and said gazumping was common in competitive property markets.<\/p>\n

She said it could be distressing and expensive, particularly for first-home buyers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mortgage broker Rebecca Jarrett-Dalton says gazumping can be common in competitive property markets. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“They don’t know the law, they’re very new at the whole process,” Ms Dalton said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a really tricky market for them as is so it becomes really disheartening.”<\/p>\n

She urged prospective buyers to consult with their solicitor and broker throughout the entire process and to be as familiar with all documents and contracts as possible.<\/p>\n

State government reviewing scheme<\/p>\n

Brisbane agent Gabrielle Trickey said there was also ongoing confusion about what must be included in the statement, with key issues \u2014 like natural hazard history and asbestos presence \u2014 not covered.<\/p>\n

She said a property’s flood history should be disclosed, arguing it was critical information.<\/p>\n

“Without it, it doesn’t pass the pub test \u2014 we should not be ‘pussyfooting’ around that,” Ms Trickey said.<\/p>\n

“You shouldn’t have any buyer walking blindly into purchasing a house or unit that’s been flooded.”<\/p>\n

Both agents called for the laws to be refined and simplified, arguing the current regime risks overwhelming buyers rather than informing them.<\/p>\n

Ms Mercorella said the REIQ wrote to the Attorney-General Deb Frecklington late last year to outline the industry’s concerns.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Real estate agent Gabrielle Trickey wants to see the seller disclosure laws refined and simplified. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

“The Attorney-General committed to a review [and] we’re quietly optimistic that through that \u2026 we can improve the document and improve the process,” she said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Ms Frecklington said the government continued to “closely monitor” the scheme with input from industry stakeholders and a working group, comprising of various relevant bodies including the REIQ.<\/p>\n

“Seller disclosure laws are designed to clarify legal obligations for both parties through a more transparent sale process and result in fewer post-contractual disputes, bringing Queensland into line with other states,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queensland’s seller disclosure laws are driving a “concerning” rise in unethical behaviour like ‘gazumping’, the state’s peak real…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,651,289192,289193,44,94,701,1003,138224,15884,289191],"class_list":["post-592298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane","tag-form-2","tag-gazump","tag-news","tag-qld","tag-queensland","tag-real-estate","tag-real-estate-institute-queensland","tag-reiq","tag-seller-disclosure-scheme"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}