News Ltd publications have been accused of making underhand six-figure cash incentives to real estate advertisers to lure them into long-term contracts.
Antony Catalano, managing director of Metro Media Publishing in Melbourne, claims realestate.com.au and Leader Newspapers are presenting “large cash offers” to real estate agents in Melbourne.
It is illegal in Victoria for estate agents to accept cash inducements and not pass them on to their clients.
Catalano (pictured) told B&T that REA Group, which is majority owned by News Ltd, recently offered one estate agent a six-figure sum to sign a two-year advertising contract. “REA’s strategy is questionable,” he said. “If the money was intended to be returned to the vendor, they would pass it on in the form of a discount. But it’s not. It’s a way of controlling the market. Disgruntled agents are fed up with REA’s bullying tactics.”
Yesterday, Catalano sent an email to all of Melbourne’s real estate agents, urging them to resist cash offers. He said he has also referred details of incentive cheques paid to real estate agents to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
News Ltd has denied Catalano’s claims. A statement from the company said: “Mr Catalano is mistaken. Leader does not write cheques to agents to stop them signing up their clients with other publishers. Leader deals with agents in a proper and lawful way.”
Greg Ellis, chief executive of the REA Group, added: “We would welcome a full and thorough review of the media industry’s current and historical business practices. Our customer contracts do not include cash payments to agency sales offices and REA’s business practices comply with all state and federal laws.”
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