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Did The Minister's Dog Eat Hubby's Homework?
05 August 09 10:05 AM | Peter Mericka | 4 Comments   

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Former corruption investigator Tony Fitzgerald QC and former premier Wayne Goss recently charged that Queensland’s Beattie and Bligh governments had let the state Read More...

Filed under: queensland, keech, conflict of interests, corruption, politics, wayne goss, beattie, labor party, tony fitzgerald, fitzgerald inquiry, government, lobbying, bligh

Investing In Queensland Real Estate
03 April 09 12:40 PM | Peter Mericka | 3 Comments   

Opinion by Neil Jenman Consumer Advocate Within an hour of reading this article another investor will almost certainly have been ripped off in another dud Queensland property deal. That's how often it happens. While there is no official 'Register of Rip Read More...

Filed under: queensland, jenman, rip off

Estate Agents As "Legal Advisers"?
28 January 09 06:33 AM | Peter Mericka | 6 Comments   

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Harcourts real estate agent, Lester Drew, in a recent letter to the editor of Queensland's Courier Mail criticised an earlier column in that newspaper about selling Read More...

Filed under: queensland, conflict of interests, legal advice, harcourts, Jimboomba

Conveyancing Corruption - Lawyers Too!
24 November 08 07:27 PM | Peter Mericka | 7 Comments   

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au (Following on from " Licensed Conveyancer Corruption Must Be Stopped ", Tim O'Dwyer reports on a lawyer conveyancer's attempt to attract referrals from real estate Read More...

Filed under: Conveyancer, secret commissions, queensland, referral fee, corruption, touting, kick-back

Preventing Estate Agents From Preparing Contracts
13 March 08 05:21 AM | Peter Mericka | 11 Comments   

by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au After firing more than a few verbal bullets over recent months at Queensland’s Attorney-General (and Fair Trading Minister) Kerry Shine in The Courier Mail and Gold Coast Read More...

Filed under: Conveyancing, Estate agent, Agent, Contract, ethics, queensland, kerry shine, conflict of interests, contract of sale, contract note

Deep North Agents "Re-licensed" to Practise Real Estate Law
10 January 08 09:00 AM | Peter Mericka | 17 Comments   

by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au From July 1st last year the role of Queensland real estate agents in preparing contracts was severely limited by law. Sit back, dear readers, as I now blow the whistle Read More...

Filed under: Contract, ethics, queensland, kerry shine, legal advice

Fair Trading No Longer Queensland's Neglected Orphan?
24 September 07 04:14 PM | Peter Mericka | 1 Comments   

by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Once, when Queensland’s Premier Peter Beattie was planning a ministerial reshuffle, I offered him this advice: the Fair Trading portfolio, because of its appalling real Read More...

Filed under: Consumer Affairs, queensland, office of fair trading, kerry shine

Confessions Of An Over-priced Property Lender
03 May 07 11:29 AM | Peter Mericka | 0 Comments   

OPINION by Tim O'Dwyer M.A., LL.B Solicitor Consumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au A typical marketeering scenario begins with cold-calling of unsuspecting Mums-and-Dads to tout wealth-creation and/or tax saving seminars then proceeds to the Read More...

Filed under: Conveyancer, Deception, Valuation, queensland, marketeer