(Prague, October 12, 2012) In September 2012, after having assessed all circumstances the Director General of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority Jan Štěpánek confirmed the fine in the amount of 5 million Czech crowns imposed by the Středočeský and Prague Inspectorate to the real estate agency PROLUX Consulting Int, s.r.o. for breaches of the ban on the use of unfair commercial practices when concluding contracts on the sale of property. However, the real estate agency DID NOT PAY the imposed fine in the time limit (October 9, 2012). After the time limit of 30 days passed, the case will be transferred to the appropriate customs office that will levy the fine.
Controls of the activities of the respective real estate agency were carried out by the Středočeský and Prague Inspectorate on the grounds of frequent consumers’ submissions who complained about the practices of this agency and also on the grounds of several cases that were transferred to the Police of the Czech Republic. These controls proved that the representatives of the company informed consumers untruthfully about the terms and conditions of the concluded contracts which is in contradiction to the Act on Consumer Protection.
Namely, consumers who wanted to sell their realty and turned to the company PROLUX Consulting Int. s.r.o. were repeatedly assured by the company’s representatives that the concluded contract is not exclusive. This means that the owners can offer their realty to sale also through other real estate agencies with no risk of any sanctions. But in fact, the contract contained the explicit ban on sale of the property without the collaboration with the PROLUX Consulting Int., s.r.o. company under the sanction in the rate of 6% of the foreseen price of the realty, but at least 19,500 CZK.
On the grounds of testimonies of the witnesses who were questioned by the Inspectorate’s employees it was found out that the company was using similar unfair commercial practices when concluding contracts with the clients minimally since 2007 and it was doing it constantly, systematically, ordinarily and also intentionally as all the proofs suggest.
On the grounds of these findings it was decided to impose the fine in the maximal amount which is allowed by the Act on Consumer Protection in connection with the breach of the ban on the use of unfair commercial practices – i.e. 5 million CZK. After having considered all the circumstances of the administrative tort, the Director General of the CTIA refused the company’s appeal from the decision about the amount of the fine and he confirmed the fine imposed by the Director of the Středočeský and Prague Inspectorate.
Further information can be found on the website of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority www.coi.cz or at the communication department of the CTIA.
Celá zpráva zde: