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Wellington, March 6 NZPA - The Supreme Court has dismissed a real estate company's appeal over the sale of a fancy cliff-top North Shore home and ordered it to pay nearly $1 million to the couple who sold it.
In a decision released today, Premium Real Estate has been ordered to pay Mark and Deborah Stevens damages of $659,813 and to repay $67,000 commission.
Seven percent interest over more than four years has been added to the sums, bringing the total to $994,883.
The high profile legal stoush started when Premium Real Estate sold the Stevens' house and land in Beach Road, Milford, in April 2004 to a Mr Larsen of the Mahoenui Valley Trust for $2.575m.
Six months later it was re-sold by Premium for $3.55m to Hong Kong buyers.
The Stevens, upset when they learned of the resale deal, sued for damages of $995,000 -- the difference between what they paid and a valuation of $3.57m -- and sought the return of the $67,000 commission they had paid to Premium.
The High Court found Premium guilty of misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of fiduciary duty. It awarded the Stevens a total of $1.08m over the sale of the property.
Premium appealed that decision and last year the Court of Appeal slashed the damages awarded against Premium to $225,000.
In the latest decision Chief Justice Sian Elias dismissed Premium's appeal against the findings that it was in breach of its fiduciary duty and it had breached the Fair Trade Act.
She cited earlier court decisions that said "misleading and incomplete information" gave the impression Mr Larsen was buying the house as a home, and not for reselling it for profit.
The Stevens' appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision was upheld.
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Comments
I have a very similar
I have a very similar situation where David Huang of Lodge Real Estate in Hamilton approached us to buy a $4.3 million dollar property.This was not in our financial capacity but he said that if we entered into an unconditional contract to buy the property then he would enter into a contract to contribute $1.5 million to buy a portion of the property. This money would be available for settlement of my contract and I did not have to pass title until I had completed the required subdivision. Huang and his wife were going to live in the house on the property. I advised my financiers of the proposed transaction and they advised that they would provide the balance of the funding.I then entered into the required unconditional contract giving Lodge a deposit cheque of $220,000. Once my cheque cleared and Huang paid his commission then he reneged on his part of the contract even though his lawyer Mark Milroy had declared the contract unconditional. I complained to the Real Estate Institute who advised that I had to agree to discontinue any legal action against Huang and Lodge so they could impose an small fine. I chose not to accept this generous offer of retribution and have commenced legal proceedings. This is not easy as to the high costs of overpriced lawyers and substantial filing fees
Do you mean that he "reneged
Do you mean that he "reneged on his part of the contract" to sell to third party? Is he still working for Lodge or is he being investigated?
To me, it's a serious misconduct. No wonder that real estate agents are least trusted.
Dear Anonymous, Huang
Dear Anonymous,
Huang reneged on his purchase of the part of the block to which he said that he would buy as part of the original offer that he made to get us to buy the block. He is still with Lodge Real estate. Lodge have refused to look into the matter as has the Real Estate Institute until I commence legal proceedings. This is ridiculous as it will take years to rectify this.
Was there a contract been
Was there a contract been signed between you and Huang about this 1.5M?
Yes Definitely, Huang's
Yes Definitely, Huang's lawyer even declared it to be unconditional. It was strange, from the time we paid our deposit Huang made out that he was honouring his contract then disappeared to Taiwan for a holiday
I am glad that you have
I am glad that you have upper hand. good luck.
any new development about
any new development about your claim against this real estate agent? Rumour has it that this happened several times and all involved with the same agent.
I am now ready to file suit
I am now ready to file suit against Huang,Lodge Country.Hero Group and the Vendor in the High Court in Hamilton. I have reserved the right to add a further defendant Lodge Real Estate. However it will take time to get a result. I would be very interested in any Real Estate legal decisions
Finally managed to find the
Finally managed to find the money to file suit. Watch this space
Suit was completed today.
Suit was completed today. Just have to edit it and then file. Have included Lodge Real Estate as well.
Will keep this site updated
I know it's a long process,
I know it's a long process, but finally it's happening. I wish you all the best. Meanwhile, I'd like to know if the whole suit is based on "misconduct" or any other regulation. Is the new formed watchdog organization gonna be the judge? Anyway, it's finally got someone to take action to stop it from happening again and again.
Best of Luck.
The case is based upon
The case is based upon misrepresentation and breach of Fiduciary duty.
The matter is going before the High Court. The new "Watchdog' was enacted after the events but still does not have the teeth of the High Court
any progress on your case
any progress on your case since last time I heard from you in March.
Yes, the suit has been filed
Yes, the suit has been filed and I got the first Statement of Defence today. Strangely enough it is from the Solicitors who declared the contract, that was offered by Huang, to be unconditional. The defence says they have no knowledge of the contract being declared unconditional. I have it in writing from the very same lawyers.
The case has its first call this month in the High Court at Hamilton. Whilst the facts are simple the law is complex
Hi, The Statements of
Hi, The Statements of Defence have arrived. Interestingly enough the Real Estate Agent Huang has not filed one. The solicitors for the party that was introduced as the inducement have said that there contract was not declared unconditional. The same lawyers who sent the formal notice declaring the contract unconditional prepared that statement of Defence. The Real Estate firms have tried to rewrite the original contract. When this is over I will dupload all the documents
the whole defence seemed odd
the whole defence seemed odd to me, is the real estate firms tried to block the whole law suit to protect the agent involved in this case? Why would they think there is no case to be answered when there were real signed paper to prove their wrong doing?
Please keep me posted on the progress. thanks
There is no defence. The RE
There is no defence. The RE Coys through their insurers are trying to rewrite the agreements. They have not read the Statement of Claim properly. The Inducement parties solicitors are stating that the agreement was not unconditional. There own document proves that they declared it unconditional. I think the word incompetent comes to the forefront.The Agent has not filed a Statement of Defence which is reallyv strange. I am preparing the first call memorandum as I write this plus the bundle of documents. I will keep you posted.
When you don't have a defence you create a snowstorm
this whole saga is getting
this whole saga is getting stranger and stranger. Best of luck.
Discovery must be completed
Discovery must be completed by tomorrow. The Real Estate Agent Huang is now going for security for costs. This will add further delay and expense. I hope the High Court Judge will see through the Application
The fact that a silly lawyer
The fact that a silly lawyer can apply for security for costs when the defendant breached the contract in the first place is a mockery of our justice system
could you please explain to
could you please explain to me what "security for costs" means in this saga?
It means that someone like
It means that someone like Huang can create havoc and when he is sued the plaintiff must put up an amount for his costs, ie Huangs. Yhis is in case the suit is unsuccessful. In this case the breach of an unconditional contract they can still demand security for costs even though they have an unlikely defence
I did some research on this
I did some research on this "security for costs", now I think I have better idea that it will cost you more in the process by depositing a cheque into the trust account. I you all the best.
With a friend in the Real
With a friend in the Real Estate agent industry, I have heard of uncountable horros with this David Huang person, deceiving, misleading and serious unethical conduct. The Real Estate Institute does not have teeth to deal with people like David and its pleasing to know that someone has taken the initiative to take him on legal proceedings. I offer my greatest support for this case. Do keep us updated on this development.
I agree but it is also Lodge
I agree but it is also Lodge that are to blame as they refuse to take responsibility for Huangs unethical behaviour