Real estate agents fined

PHOTO: Barfoot and Thompson. FILE

According to the NZHERALD a couple had to sell their house after they discovered the four-bedroom house they’d just purchased only had consent for two of those rooms.

The two former Barfoot and Thompson realtors who sold the property have each been fined $1000 by the Real Estate Authority after being found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct this year.

“House + house + land” and “earn a little extra income” was some of the marketing material used to sell the property in Swanson, West Auckland in 2018.

The couple who purchased the place were under the impression the property included three bedrooms and a fourth one in a cottage they could rent out.

The money they were lent to buy the property from the bank was conditional on them renting out the cottage. But, it was only after they’d signed the papers and approached a property manager to rent it that they found out it wasn’t consented.

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In a recently released decision the Real Estate Authority found that advertising for the cottage was misleading. It ruled Lisa Edwards and Andy Lawrence did not take adequate steps to clarify that it could not be separately rented.

It also found that the realtors should have verified that a third bedroom in the main dwelling that was originally intended to be a garage was not consented.

The couple wanted $80,000 in compensation and argued that they overpaid for the property as a two-bedroom house with a garage is worth significantly less than a three-bedroom with a cottage.

**Lisa Edwards and Andy Lawrence were each fined $1000 by the Real Estate Authority. Photo / Barfoot and Thompson**

They said that Edwards and Lawrence’s conduct had played a massive part in their lives over the past three years and had affected their mental health. If the property had been accurately advertised it would have been worth significantly less than the price that they paid for it, the complainants argued.

They thought the purchase of the property was a sound financial decision but because they could not legally rent the cottage they had to sell it.

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When they sold the property the unconsented works was clearly disclosed and the couple said this disadvantaged them in the market as potential purchasers were put off.