Often, one of the most important decisions that go into buying a house is its exact location or address. Location can set the price of a home and determine where the homeowners' children go to school. Home buyers will often rely on the real estate agent for this information.

In Vagias v. Woodmont Properties, Inc., 2006 WL 709019 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2006), a a New Jersey court held that a real estate agent could be liable (under the state's Consumer Fraud Act) if he/she misrepresents the location of a home to a prospective buyer. In that case, the agent assured the buyers that the home was located in a prestigious part of town where, in fact, the home was actually located just over the border in what was considered a less prestigious area. As a result, the sale value of the home was lower than expected, and buyers' son was unable to attend a highly rated public elementary school in the other part of town. In reaching its decision, the court indicated that this assurance by the agent as to location was not mere puffery and it dealt with a serious enough issue, with serious consequences, so as to implicate the consumer statute. The court commented: "Here, Dingle's statements "were not idle comments or mere puffery." Ibid. She knew that location in the Montville section of the Township was very important to plaintiffs. She had been working with them for months to help them find a house to buy, and she was trying to convince them that they had finally found the right house and that they should buy it because of its Montville location. We also disagree with the trial judge concerning the seriousness of the matter. Viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, their proofs establish that they suffered injury well beyond an affront to their social status. They were unable to send their son to the school they had chosen, and the house they bought was worth less because it was located in Towaco instead of in Montville..."

Given the importance of location in the purchasing decision, buyers are entitled to expect that the realtors who are assisting them in their housing search will know where the houses are actually located. A realtor's misrepresentation on that critical issue is a serious matter and violates the Act. N.J.S.A. 56:8-2