Warriors star cuts ties with house- buying firm accused of unfairness
A former Kiwis and Warriors rugby league star has cut ties with a “no commission, no fees” house- buying company that’s accused of taking advantage of vulnerable homeowners.
Wairangi Koopu’s name and image have been used to endorse Auckland House Buyers’ website and flyers since 2015.
But the Warriors centurion has asked his agent to “pull any affiliation” with the company amid concerns over its business model.
“I had no intention of ever putting my name to anything that may be [ unethical],” Koopu told the Weekend Herald.
Auckland House Buyers is owned by Peter Lee, who also owns PropertyWise Ltd. The companies were linked to the purchase of widowed pensioner Sarah Ewe’s Mangere property in November and disabled woman Pamela Baucke’s Massey house in May.
Both sales have created controversy amid claims Lee purchased the properties cheaply and without the owners getting legal advice or speaking to family before signing sales contracts. Baucke, who has a brain injury following a crash, has until July 25 to vacate her house.
She signed it away for $ 515,000 when Lee visited her after she responded to an online ad promising “no commission” and a “fair offer”.
Estimates seen by the Herald put the property’s actual worth at between $ 630,000 and $ 770,000.
Lee denies acting unethically and says the sale price was “reasonable” given Baucke avoided commission and marketing fees. He says he obtained his own registered valuation of $ 580,000 but would not release it to the Herald.
Though Lee abandoned the purchase of Ewe’s house following publicity, he is refusing to back down over the Baucke deal.
Koopu was disappointed to hear about the women’s cases. He said he was approached through his agent to do a promo video for Auckland House Buyers about t wo years ago. The images were only contracted for one year and he was surprised they were still being used.
Koopu had no idea the company was also linked to PropertyWise Ltd.
Asked if he was concerned about his name being associated with either company, he replied: “For sure”.