Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Sale of Land Act 1962 - SECT 38

Dummy bidding prohibited

38. Dummy bidding prohibited



(1) A vendor of land must not make a bid at a public auction of the land.

Penalty: In the case of a body corporate: 600 penalty units. In any other
case: 240 penalty units.

(2) A person must not make a bid at a public auction of land knowing that the
bid is being made on behalf of a vendor of the land.

Penalty: In the case of a body corporate: 600 penalty units. In any other
case: 240 penalty units.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), a bid may be found to have been made
on behalf of a vendor even though it is not made at the request of, or with
the knowledge of, the vendor.

(4) Evidence that a person who made a bid at a public auction had the
intention of benefiting the vendor in making the bid is evidence that the
person made the bid on behalf of the vendor.

(5) It is immaterial that a person making a bid in contravention of this
section is not in Victoria at the time the bid is made.

(6) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a bid made by a vendor who is a
co-owner of the land or by a person (other than the auctioneer of the land) on
behalf of a vendor who is a co-owner of the land if-

   (a)  the bid was made to enable the vendor to purchase the interest of
        another co-owner in the land; and





   (b)  the conditions under which the auction is conducted permit the making
        of bids by a vendor to purchase the interest of another co-owner in
        the land; and

   (c)  before any bidding started, the auctioneer orally declared at the
        auction that a vendor may make bids to purchase the interest of a
        co-owner in the land.

(7) In subsection (6), co-owner means a joint tenant, whether at law or in
equity or a tenant in common, whether at law or in equity, of the land.