UK listings giant Rightmove says it will monitor its activity for any sign of portal juggling, and report it to industry regulator National Trading Standards Estate Agents Team, reports Property Industry Eye.
The NTSEAT this week ruled that portal juggling, where agents deliberately de-list properties and then re-list them to bump them to the top of search results, is fraudulent.
“Rightmove welcomes NTSEAT’s move to publish guidance about agents trying to deliberately remove and relist properties to make them appear new on the market,” a spokesperson told the news site.
“If Rightmove receives a query about a listing and the data quality team investigate it and find that it is a deliberate attempt to remove and relist a property to make it appear as new then this will be shared with NTSEAT.
“Rightmove will also continue to support requests from NTSEAT and local Trading Standards authorities for any cases they investigate.”
NTSEAT has already confirmed that specific agents are under investigation, after warning that the practice of portal juggling is illegal and could result in prosecutions and/or bans from the industry.
Its stance has been publicly supported by industry figures including NAEA managing director Mark Hayward and ombudsman Katrina Sporle.
