Australian Real Estate Blog

We're Back - And We're Kicking Butt!

Peter Mericka — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 23:10:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd It's been quite some time since I wrote a posting for the Australian Real Estate Blog, and quite a lot has happened in...(read more)

Slater & Gordon - Too Great To Challenge?

Peter Mericka — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:48:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd When Slater & Gordon lawyer Pieter Kruger publicly declared that he had engaged in conduct recently found by the...(read more)

Mericka Conviction Quashed!

Peter Mericka — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:01:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd The Australian Financial Review has today published an article which reports my "conviction" for misleading conduct....(read more)

Consumer Affairs Victoria v Peter Mericka - Court Rules In Favour of CAV

Peter Mericka — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:00:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd A 10 year battle comes to an end. Judgement in the matter of Dr Claire Noone, Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria v...(read more)

Ending the entrenched real estate racket

Peter Mericka — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:54:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd Finally, we have a real estate industry commentator who is independent enough to describe the industry as it really is....(read more)

CONSUMER AFFAIRS VICTORIA v PETER JOHN MERICKA & ORS

Peter Mericka — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 07:39:00 GMT

After a decade of representing vendor clients in the sale of their properties, and after two years of court preparation and the incurring of massive legal costs, the matter of DR CLAIRE NOONE, DIRECTOR OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS VICTORIA and PETER JOHN MERICKA...(read more)

Remax Calling - Lucrative Commissions For Real Estate Agents Everywhere!

Peter Mericka — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:31:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au This unsolicited letter is currently being sent by email to Re/Max agencies around the world: “As a fellow Re/Max Broker, I'm writing to ask if you or perhaps...(read more)

Court Finds Solicitor Forged Wife's Signature

Peter Mericka — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:29:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au During 2008 the Commonwealth Bank made loans totalling $13.5 million to Matthew Perrin, his wife Nicole and their family company. Among other securities, the bank...(read more)

Luxury River-Front Property For Sale - Flooded Only Once (Or Twice)

Peter Mericka — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:54:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au What do you do when a property you have contracted to sell is damaged (by flood, fire or whatever) before settlement? What do you do if you are the buyer of that...(read more)

Three Tales of Deceitful Real Estate Agents Successfully Sued

Peter Mericka — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:56:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Real estate agents are rarely prosecuted or sued. Sure, we regularly hear about misbehaviour in the real estate industry and occasionally a real estate agent appears...(read more)

Consumer Affairs Victoria - Lame Response to Corruption Allegation

Peter Mericka — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:32:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd In my last blog posting I wrote about Consumer Affairs Victoria's failure to address bribe induced corruption in the...(read more)

Why Corruption Flourishes Under Consumer Affairs Victoria

Peter Mericka — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:41:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) has a sorry history when it comes to regulating Victorian real estate agents and, in...(read more)

Real Estate Regulators - No Fault With Real Estate Agent's Caveat Clause

Peter Mericka — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:21:00 GMT

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Not only had the buyers purported to “charge” the property with the seller’s agent’s commission liability while consequently consenting to the agent’s lodgement...(read more)

Let Me Invite You To Google+

Peter Mericka — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:54:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd Readers may or may not be aware that Google has announced a new social networking facility that will compete wit Facebook,...(read more)

Conveyancing Consumer Alert - Beware of the Sneaky Stamp!

Peter Mericka — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:04:00 GMT

OPINION by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.B Real Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer Victoria Director Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd Real estate agents have no automatic right to lodge a caveat over a client's property to secure the payment of commission....(read more)