Watchdog censures farm sale

The managing director of a large real estate company and one of his agents, who sits on a district council, have been censured for their actions while trying to sell a large farm.

But an owner of the farm in question has failed in an attempt to relitigate issues the real estate watchdog found had no merit.

The legal saga centres on Waiaruhe Station, a farm south of Dannevirke owned by members of the Beatson family.

The family put the 512-hectare farm up for sale through Property Brokers in 2017, with Dannevirke-based agent Jim Crispin, who is also a Tararua district councillor, the lead salesman.

The family laid 10 complaints about the sale process to the Real Estate Authority Complaints Assessment Committee, citing problems with the marketing campaign, potential purchasers not being contacted by Crispin, poor communication with Crispin, and general concerns about performance. They also alleged Crispin asked them to arrange ‘‘dummy bidders’’ for the auction, which is illegal.

Mordaunt, Crispin and the company disputed the allegations.

The committee agreed with the trio on all but one issue, finding they advertised the farm sale without a proper agency agreement. Although there was an agreement for Property Brokers to market the farm, it expired at the end of June 2017.

The farm owners said a renewal agreement was signed on July 26, 2017, but backdated to mid-june.

Crispin said he sent a renewal agreement signed by himself in mid-june, but one of the owners had not signed it by late-july despite repeated requests to do so.

However, Crispin said one of the owners gave him verbal permission to seek buyers from the end of June until the agreement was signed.

The committee said having no agreement meant having no authority to receive commission, and a vendor having no protection to ensure that their instructors were met.

Crispin was ordered to pay a $3000 fine, with Mordaunt and the company fined $1500 each. All three were censured for their unsatisfactory conduct.

One of the owners, Barry Beatson, took the trio and the Real Estate Agents Authority to the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal. He thought some of the other complaints, including the advertising issue, should have gone his way.

The tribunal, in a decision released in July, dismissed his attempts at relitigation.