RPNZ database lawsuit rejected

A data services company which sued the Real Estate Institute for almost $1 million has had its claims rejected in a court judgment.

RPNZ brought claims against the institute over a botched deal to establish the country's largest real-estate database.

The court hearing ran for four days last month.

RPNZ was jointly owned by Quotable Value NZ and Australian company RP Data, although it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of RP Data. The merged entity sought $996,509 in damages after its deal with the institute failed.

Justice Rhys Harrison's judgment issued yesterday dismissed RPNZ's claim on three counts, including breach of contract. He ordered RPNZ to pay the institute's costs.

The deal to combine databases was nicknamed Project Confederation and was hatched in 2000.

The data company was to shoulder the costs of establishing thesystem and, in return, get accessto the institute's up-to-date salesdata.

The institute was to get access to the data company's large real estate database.