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HOMES CAN'T BE STOLEN SAYS REIA

HOMES CAN'T BE STOLEN SAYS REIA
Ignore the evidence, criticise Neil Jenman.

UPDATE January 31, 2007: Sydney detectives have arrested and charged a 54-year-old Sydney woman with stealing a home. She will appear in court early next month (February 2007).

Perhaps her lawyers will ask the president of the real estate institute (REI) to tell the court that, in his opinion, homes cannot be stolen.

Last night, the devastated owners of the stolen home were astonished at how easy it was for them to lose their home. They are astounded that a real estate leader (the REI President) is so out-of-touch.

More on this story in the weeks ahead.



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The president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), Graham Joyce, has strongly denied claims made last week (on this web site and on television) that homes can easily be stolen.

In an interview (to be aired on television soon) Mr Joyce discusses (actually, it's more an argument than a discussion) the stolen homes issue with Neil Jenman and the host of Channel Seven's Today Tonight program, Anna Coren.

Graham Joyce began the interview by accusing Neil Jenman of being "irresponsible" for publicly revealing that real estate can easily be stolen.

Jenman replied that stealing is a crime and it is irresponsible not to report a crime. He said that the stock-standard response to any whiff of scandal in the real estate industry is for the bosses (such as Graham Joyce) to issue instant denials.

Never mind the evidence, never mind the potential harm to the public, just pretend everything's okay - and, whenever possible, slay the messenger.

About two years ago, Neil Jenman had discovered that, due to a simple but very large loophole in the real estate laws, it is easy for thieves to steal real estate.

It wasn't until this year, however, after hearing of two instances where homes had been stolen, that Jenman decided to issue a public warning and call on the real estate industry to urgently close the simple loophole.

But, Graham Joyce and the REIA deny that there even is a loophole. Astonishingly, they did not even ask to see the evidence before issuing a denial and criticising Neil Jenman.

"He [Jenman] has been causing us trouble for years," said a spokesperson for the REIA last week.

The evidence compiled by Neil Jenman and Channel Seven includes a police report on a home that was stolen, plus the words of a detective who said the issue is "definitely not isolated" plus comments from lawyers and one of Australia's most respected property conveyancers.

All agree that it is possible for real estate to be stolen quite easily.

All except Graham Joyce and the real estate institute.

Mr Joyce said that, in his 25 years in the real estate industry, he had never heard of homes being stolen. If he hasn't seen it, it can't happen. Go figure.

Without publicly revealing the simple steps to steal almost any piece of real estate, the solution is just as simple. All it would take is for all agents to insist on identification from all property sellers.

In this week's Channel Seven interview, Neil Jenman tells Graham Joyce that all agents should make a five-word statement to all property sellers, "Please show me your identification."

Graham Joyce says it is not necessary to ask sellers for identification (despite the fact that identity fraud is reportedly now the number one financial crime in the world; a fact that Graham Joyce admitted he did not know) .

In the interview, journalist Anna Coren, asks Graham Joyce, "Mr Joyce, why wouldn't you insist that agents ask for identification?"

Graham Joyce replies that the REIA has a "code of conduct". But nowhere in the REIA's Code of Conduct does it state that agents must obtain identification from sellers.

The "Code of Conduct" line is just another stock-standard gobbledy-gook-political answer to create the impression that the public is safe with agents who are members of real estate institutes. They are not safe. On the contrary, due to incompetence and stupidity, the public is in grave danger.

There is a frightening irony in this story.

Now that the issue of stealing homes has been made public, if agents do not ask for identification from sellers, there may well be a boom in stolen properties; indeed, for first home buyers in Sydney and Perth, it's probably easier to steal a house than to buy one these days.

What will it take for the likes of Graham Joyce to wake-up?

Perhaps if someone steals their homes they might realise how important it is to protect the public instead of shady agents.

Upset at Graham Joyce's attitude, Neil Jenman said, "Some of the biggest crooks and some of the worst rip-offs in real estate are caused by agents who are members of real estate institutes."

Graham Joyce said he was offended.

But he did not ask for evidence.

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This news article was taken from the News page of the Jenman website.

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