Cold calling real estate agents - is there a law against it?
Cold calling real estate agents - is there a law against it?
Some real estate dickhead just rang my mobile (which is not advertised anywhere) saying they were "just in the area" and wanted to do an appraisal on a house we own in <suburb name>.
It's an agency we don't use for any purpose, have never used for any purpose, and have never approached for any reason.
Is there some sort of legal issue with some smarmy sales knob looking up property owner details and cold calling them?
Makes me feel all gross that their grubby mitts are pawing through my deets somewhere in the hope of being able to stick a tongue up my bum and get a taste of some back door cash.
There should be a law against owning properties you don't live in.
That said fucking with real estate agents I can get behind so do whatever on that front. Maybe consider not being a landlord though.
I can think of a few exceptions. But I think owning multiple properties in the same location for more than a specified amount of time should be illegal or heavily taxed.
For example, you buy a home and are still trying to sell an old one. You might own two houses for some time. You might inherit a house and need to sell it.
You might have family in multiple parts of the country or work in multiple parts of the country/world and need a place to live.
A friend’s mom had severe asthma and was told to leave her home state during the winter and live in Florida.
But I have a friend who owns like 3 hours in the same neighborhood just as rental properties. That should be illegal/heavily taxed.
Ironic that Mao is discussed and the biggest culprits in the housing market are (allegedly) Chinese nationals.
Reportedly, in certain Chinese cultures, men (and young men) do not have access to women and you women unless they are a land owner. It doesn’t matter if the land they own is a single-room apartment that has room for half a single bed and never has any tenants, they own land so they get a root. This also explains all those huge ghost cities in China which are all unoccupied high-rises.
You and everyone else talking shit about China are not doing so in a principled manner and are displaying incredible amounts of racism and chauvinism.
Wow! this is some of the stupidest shit I have heard in days. There are more citizens of the USA and UK that own property in Australia than Chinese citizens.
Your "reportedly" statement is made up bullshit and the "ghost cities" were a lie. they are now full of people. Our backwards ass government can't conceive of infrastructure until a decade after its needed and then they get bent over the barrel with budget blowouts that cost the taxpayers double the original stated costs. Meanwhile China spent a bunch of money during the financial crisis when materials and labor were cheap to build infrastructure and you act like it is a bad thing.
There should be a law against owning properties you don’t live in.
I'm trying to picture what this looks like. Who do we rent from if we can't afford to buy a house in this alternate vision of the future? There is no way that 20-year-old me working at servos had the capital to buy a house. I had zero savings and a low income.
I see you invoking the Maoist uprising in another comment, but I'll be honest - the years following that uprising were hard for a huge swathe of the population (not to mention fatal for Millions more). I would not want to live through a Chairman Mao. Modern China happened despite Mao. Not because of him.
You literally cannot conceive of a reality wherein a home does not have to be rented from a parasitic landlord?
You cannot conceive a future wherein you don't have to afford a home?
Also Mao is a beloved figure for many because he lifted millions out of poverty and ended the brutal feudal system that preceeded him. He also famously said "no investigation no right to speak" and you clearly need to do some investigating.
This is akin to a freed slave asking "who do I serve then?"
I see you invoking the Maoist uprising in another comment, but I'll be honest - the years following that uprising were hard for a huge swathe of the population (not to mention fatal for Millions more). I would not want to live through a Chairman Mao.
If you think it was hard to live under Mao, you should see what it was like before him.
I see you invoking the Maoist uprising in another comment, but I'll be honest - the years following that uprising were hard for a huge swathe of the population (not to mention fatal for Millions more). I would not want to live through a Chairman Mao. Modern China happened despite Mao. Not because of him.
What was it like to live in China before 1949 compared to after 1949? Please support your assertions with relevant statistics.
The practice of "renting" needs to die in a goddamn fire. Single family homes should never be "rented". Temporary (6-month to 5-year) occupancy of a single family home should be done under a "land contract".
Basically, the occupant starts making mortgage payments (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) but title stays with the landlord. The landlord receives only the "interest" part of the payment. The "principal" part of the payment is held in escrow, in an interest-bearing account. This is the occupant's equity in the home.
If the occupant stays through the term of the contract, title transfers to the occupant, the escrowed principal payments transfer to the landlord, and the contract converts to a private mortgage. If the occupant leaves before the term of the contract, the principal payments are returned to them.
Land contracts build tenant wealth and drive people toward home ownership. 20-year-old you, with no capital and working a minimum wage job, should be able to enter into a land contract and start building wealth.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-04/vienna-s-social-housing-and-low-rent-strategy/102639674
Good quality, cheap housing.
Meanwhile the roof in my kitchen has almost fallen out (huge hole in it) and when I reported it to my landlord they instead arranged for a “routine” house inspection next week.
Who do we rent from if we can't afford to buy a house in this alternate vision of the future?
The government. Also if the 10% of homes that were empty on the night of the last census were suddenly dropped onto the market it would cause a massive drop in prices so more people could afford homes.
not sure we go that far (in a sane system rentals have their place) but absolutely start taxing the ever loving shit out of anything over the PPR. The more houses the more tax. More. More. MOOOOOOOOOORE. They speak the language of money, make it snarl at them.
And ban corporations / companies / business entities from owning standalone housing and land.
Yeah, it's a pity there isn't a law against it I guess. If I sold that one extra house I'm hoarding the housing crisis would be pretty much over tbh.
I get what you are saying about this not being a matter of personal individual responsibility, but coming on here and complaining about a telemarketer that you could just ignore is pretty fucking insensitive to all the unhoused folks that you could be helping by just not being a rent-seeking parasite.
The Maoist uprising against the landlords was the most comprehensive proletarian revolution in human history and resulted in nearly totally equal distribution of land among the peasantry.
It's unsolicited and its purpose is marketing.
https://www.donotcall.gov.au/consumers/consumer-overview/making-a-complaint/
Or you can always sign their mobile up to services. Usually you'll find it on a billboard next to the mugshot of them sporting a shit-eating grin.
Would be a clever way to case the joint too
Or you can always sign their mobile up to services. Usually you’ll find it on a billboard next to the mugshot of them sporting a shit-eating grin.
Or just in my recent call history.... Looked it up and they're the "founder" of the company along with like 4 other people. All claiming equal rights. I wonder if they fought over who got their name first?
And they do indeed have a shit-eating grin. All of them. Why do they always look like that?
Damn, they called from their own number? I don't know why I'm surprised lol. At least you know you can block it and that's probably that.
You can also write a complaint to the other four founders and reference your formal complaint to the gov in it. I'm sure that'll stir the pot if there's any power struggles currently going on 👍
Australia has a Do Not Call Register. A telemarketing call (which includes where the purpose is "to offer to supply goods or services" or "to advertise or promote goods or services") is generally illegal if it is made to a number on the Do Not Call Register. There is an exemption if they submitted the number called to the Register to check if it was listed up to 30 days before the call, and it didn't come back - so generally complaints are only possible if the number has been on the register for longer than 30 days. Consumers can get listed on the DNCR, and submit complaints if they receive a telemarketing call more than 30 days after listing at https://www.donotcall.gov.au/. The legislation can be read here: https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2006A00088/latest/text
In addition, Australia has commonwealth legislation about processing of personal information (the Privacy Act). However, it currently doesn't apply to 'small businesses' - businesses which made less than $3,000,000 of revenue in the previous financial year, unless they are in the credit reporting, health, or data broking business, or supply to the commonwealth. For organisations the Privacy Act applies to, they are only allowed to use personal information for direct marketing in a few circumstances - they obtained it from a person who would reasonably expect them to use it in those circumstances, and they provide an easy way to opt out, and they haven't opted out. They can also obtain it from someone else with the person's consent (or if it is impractical to obtain the consent). If asked, they have to disclose what information they hold, and the source of the data. The text of the Privacy Act can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A03712/latest/text. The government has announced plans to tighten it up, likely including covering small businesses and increasing penalties.
Disclaimer: IANAL, not intended as legal advice, your individual circumstances might vary, consult a lawyer.
they really need to fuck off with that "doesn't apply to small business". You see it with worker protection, privacy, basic security. Go fuck yourselves. You're jump starting bad practises.
I don't know but if I had to guess I'd say no such law exists.
They can't "harass" you, but a once off call isn't that.
Even if you could prove they had gotten your personal details through some nefarious means, no one would care. If you complained to their professional body I can almost guarantee they wouldn't understand what the problem is.
They can't "harass" you, but a once off call isn't that.
Found the non-Millennial! I would say all phone calls are harassment. 😋
Here in VIC, its also completely s*** there aren't any junk mail laws.
Myself (and I heard this from others) plan to shred up any crap they put in my mailbox though from now on, and scatter it in their office. If everyone does that, it makes it unprofitable for them to do dodgy junk mail drops at least. It's also likely totally legal, because you're returning their litter.. At the moment, they ignore NO JUNK mail signs because there are no repurcussions, but, even shoving it under their door at their office might be enough to make them stop. Everyone really needs to start this..
I generally add their number to every callback number I can find on the internet, so they have to deal with dodgy phone calls. As they are distributing their mobile number wanting people to call them, I make sure as many people call them as they request
In several countries you can add your number to a no-marketing list, making it illegal.
In America there are "do not call" lists and I think it's illegal to cold-call numbers on those. Otherwise, you're free game if there's not a state or municipal law protecting you (and there rarely is). Maybe Australia has something similar.
Either way, you'll get far fewer inquiries from landsharks if you stop hoarding properties and parasitizing the wages of people who work.
Sign up on the DoNotCall register.
It will stop the honest ones from calling and when the dishonest ones do call, ask them for their business name and ABN and they disconnect very quickly.
It doesn’t make you immune to Political or Charity cold-calls, but if you mention that you will never vote or donate to someone who does cold calls, you get out on their internal DNC list very quickly.
It also doesn’t stop Scam/Illegal spam calls, but if you ask for their legal business name and ABN enough times, they soon get the picture and will disconnect the call.
