A council in Adelaide's southern suburbs has decided to target real estate agents who it claims are exploiting the ratepayer roll to build their databases. Marion Council will cap public access to its computers at 10 minutes to limit the amount of time real estate agents have to record ratepayer roll information such as a property's description, capital value, owner's name and address.

Marion Council Deputy Mayor Luke Hutchinson said some agents were engaged in "persistent and predatory tactics" by contacting homeowners and convincing them to sell, reports the Adelaide Advertiser. "Real estate agents are regularly camping in the council foyer for hours on end building and updating their databases," said Hutchinson.

The council also decided to write to Local Government Minister Geoff Brock to consider changing the legislation to limit the use of the roll. Ratepayer rolls are public information and councils cannot impose conditions upon a person who wants to access the roll.

Real Estate Institute of South Australia chief executive Greg Troughton said agents use electoral rolls to build databases but good agents don't harrass homeowners. "There’s a fine line between what someone regards as marketing and what someone regards as harassment. There are always some rotten apples that go too far — they simply won’t survive in the industry," he said.