Tribunal finds agent’s conduct disgraceful
WELLINGTON commercial real estate agent Chris Gollins has been found guilty of disgraceful conduct for backdating an agency agreement for a Whitby land sale.
The Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal upheld the charge following a complaint from Colliers International, which Gollins worked for at the time the deal was done.
Gollins acted as agent for the purchase of land for a proposed supermarket in Whitby.
He had a verbal agreement with Foodstuffs property managers Wayne O’Styke and Mark Lash in 2010 under which he was to be paid 2.5 per cent commission.
The land deal was signed in September 2010, conditional on the supermarket development gaining resource consent.
Two years later when the consent was granted, O’Styke’s replacement, Martin Price, questioned Gollins’s draft invoice for $114,000 in commission.
Concerned he was not going to be paid, Gollins prepared an agency agreement, which was backdated to 2010, confirming the 2.5 per cent fee.
The agreement was signed by O’Styke, who was aghast that Gollins was not going to be paid.
Gollins later sought support from Colliers management.
But after he admitted backdating the agency agreement, the company took disciplinary action, dismissed him and referred the matter to the Real Estate Agents Authority.
The tribunal said Gollins tried to deceive Price or Foodstuffs to obtain his commission.
Attempting to pass off an agreement signed two years after the event would be considered by members of the public and agents of good standing as disgraceful conduct.
The tribunal also found him guilty of unsatisfactory conduct.
He was found not guilty on two other charges of recklessly contravening the Real Estate Agents Act or of serious incompetence or negligence.
A penalty has not yet been set but the tribunal has the ability to suspend or cancel an agent’s licence or impose a fine of up to $15,000.
Commenting on the Gollins said: ‘‘What I dumb, not dodgy.
‘‘Two former Foodstuffs executives gave evidence that every dollar claimed was correctly owed to me and should have been paid, after more than four years’ work earning it.
‘‘Most fair-minded people won’t miss the absurdity of Foodstuffs, NZ’s second largest company, benefiting from regulations designed to protect consumers,’’ he said. decision, did was