New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PROPERTY, STOCK AND BUSINESS AGENTS ACT 2002 - SECT 55

55 No entitlement to commission or expenses without agency agreement

(1) A licensee is not entitled to any commission or expenses from a person for or in connection with services performed by the licensee in the capacity of licensee for or on behalf of the person unless:

(a) the services were performed pursuant to an agreement in writing (an "agency agreement") signed by or on behalf of:

(i) the person, and

(ii) the licensee, and

(b) the agency agreement complies with any applicable requirements of the regulations, and

(c) a copy of the agency agreement signed by or on behalf of the licensee was served by the licensee on that person within 48 hours after the agreement was signed by or on behalf of the person.

(2) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to regulating the form of agency agreements and the terms, conditions and other provisions that an agency agreement must or must not contain. Without limiting this subsection, the regulations may prescribe one or more standard forms of agency agreement.

(3) Without limiting the means by which a copy of the agency agreement may be served on a person, it may be served by means of facsimile transmission or by such other means as the regulations may allow.

(4) A court or tribunal before which proceedings are taken by a licensee for the recovery of commission or expenses from a person, or before which a licensee is a respondent to a consumer claim relating to commission or expenses (as referred to in section 36), may order that the commission or expenses concerned are wholly or partly recoverable despite a failure by the licensee to serve a copy of the relevant agency agreement on the person within 48 hours after it was signed by or on behalf of the person.

(5) A court or tribunal is not to make such an order unless satisfied that:

(a) the failure to serve a copy of the agreement within the required time was occasioned by inadvertence or other cause beyond the control of the licensee, and

(b) the commission or expenses that will be recoverable if the order is made are in all the circumstances fair and reasonable, and

(c) failure to make the order would be unjust.