Mortgage fee row lands in court

A dispute over contributory mortgages commission payments has prompted investment advisory company Money Managers to sue National Mortgage Brokers for $753,008.

Central to the case are fees Money Managers claims are due for marketing New Zealand's largest contributory mortgage fund to back a controversial Long Bay deal north of Auckland by Greg Olliver's LandCo.

The case between Money Managers and the contributory mortgage business opened in the High Court at Auckland yesterday. The court heard that between August 1998 and December 2001, Money Managers marketed National's contributory mortgage products to its own clients. Money Managers told the court that when complaints flowed in about the mortgages, it lost faith in National's ability to operate a contributory mortgage operation.

National counterclaims that the agreement to pay commission was an illegal contract and Money Managers breached the Secret Commissions Act. The hearing continues.