People should be careful of hiring inexperienced and unregulated estate agents, said Robert Ganly, president of the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI).
Speaking yesterday at the organisation's annual conference in Dun Laoghaire, Mr Ganly said there were still an unacceptably high number of unregulated independent auctioneers and estate agents who lack training, education or experience.
He used the day-long conference attended by more than 400 estate agents to launch an advertising campaign that aims to raise awareness among the public of the standards they should seek before engaging an auctioneer.
The campaign will urge people to deal with members of the IAVI. The drive comes as auctioneers face competition from new franchise operations. One of the best known groups is the American franchise Remax.
Earlier in his speech Mr Ganly alluded to a case involving an IAVI member, Co Kildare estate agent Colm McEvoy.
Mr McEvoy was alleged in court to have profited from selling an elderly woman's undervalued land to a company with which he was connected. He was ordered to repay outstanding money under a €1.7 million settlement.
Mr Ganly told members that the IAVI remained in contact with the solicitors representing "the affected party" and would look into the matter. He went on to say that the IAVI has a disciplinary committee who "are empowered to expel any member who does not live up to our standards". He also said that the IAVI has a compensation fund to protect the public from "bad practice or bad luck".