The Authority has received many complaints from property owners alleging that some estate agents have not complied with the provisions on advertising in the Practice Regulation. These allegations include issuing advertisements without the owners' written consent and advertising a price different from that instructed by the vendor. Such a price is usually much lower than the vendor's instructed listing price, or even lower than the bottom price acceptable to the vendor.

According to section 9(2) of the Practice Regulation, a licensed estate agent shall obtain a vendor's written consent prior to the issue of an advertisement in respect of the vendor's residential property. Section 9(3) of the Practice Regulation also provides that a licensed estate agent shall not cause or permit to be advertised a residential property in respect of which he is acting as agent at a price or rental or on terms different from those instructed by the client concerned. Unless with the client's consent or instruction, any advertising by an estate agent of a price other than that instructed by his client is in breach of section 9(3).

When entering into an Estate Agency Agreement with a vendor, an estate agent should assist the vendor in indicating in the agreement whether the vendor agrees to authorize the agent to issue advertisements in respect of the property and in specifying the listing price. Where a vendor's intended listing price is perceived to be unrealistic, an estate agent should supply the relevant market information and comparable data for the vendor's reference and suggest a more realistic listing price. The estate agent should advertise such a price only after it has been confirmed by the vendor.