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A former Napier real estate boss was cleared of illegal behaviour over his involvement in the sale of two townhouses because he withdrew the low offer he made when he found out the vendor wanted more.
That was one of the major findings of the Real Estate Agents Licensing Board's ruling on one-time Bayleys agent and former police officer Graeme Sawyer.
The Real Estate Institute wanted him barred from the sector after he offered just $220,000 for townhouses listed with his firm. They later sold through another agency for $369,000.
Not only did he work at the agency that was selling the properties, but he also tried to talk vendor Deb Leask into accepting his offer by telling her major work was needed on her properties, the institute said.
Mr Sawyer also delayed putting up advertising signs at a separate Napier property, which he and wife subsequently bought, the institute claimed.
So it applied to the board to cancel or suspend Mr Sawyer's salesperson's certificate, saying he was not a fit or proper person to be an agent.
The institute said he breached the Real Estate Agents Act by failing to get Ms Leask's consent to his offer on the correct form and it accused him of deliberately misrepresenting the background and circumstances of the offer he made with his wife, Judith Ann Sawyer.
But the board's decision, released on Friday, allowed him to keep his certificate because it found that although he worked at the agency selling the properties and he made a low offer, he had done nothing wrong.
Much was made of the high price Ms Leask got for her properties, the board said, but Hawkes Bay real estate values were rising fast around the time of the sale.
The events date back to 2003 when Ms Leask listed her townhouses with CD Realty (Hawkes Bay), trading under the Bayleys name, where Mr Sawyer was the residential sales manager.
Simultaneously, he owned a rental property portfolio that he wanted to increase.
So when Ms Leask's properties were listed with his firm, he viewed them as a buyer but found them wanting.
The Spraycote cladding was peeling and lifting off at the joints, the back stairs were rotting and both units needed painting, the board said. An initial price of $220,000 was just an "opening offer" so he increased it by $10,000, it said.
The board's ruling partly hinged on paperwork and documents sent from Napier to Australia.
Ms Leask had asked Bayleys for "the contract" to be faxed to her in Australia, meaning her listing agreement with Bayleys. Instead, she was shocked to get the Sawyers' low offer. She immediately complained and withdrew her listing from Bayleys.
But the board found that no formal written offer was ever made to Ms Leask from the Sawyers via fellow Bayleys agent John Payne, who listed the properties.
Mr Sawyer was "incensed" that Ms Leask accused him of trying to rip her off, the board found.
He emailed her: "I would never, and I repeat never, for one minute attempt to rip anyone off."
He told the board his offer was based on a genuine estimate of the properties' worth.
Mr Sawyer also denied delaying putting up the advertising signs. The board found the delaying allegation was made "presumably as an attack on Mr Sawyer's credibility".
Mr Sawyer withdrew his offer when he found Ms Leask wanted so much more.
He said he had partly lost his hearing, so he never heard Mr Payne tell him that Ms Leask wanted $400,000. The board awarded him costs and said there were no aspects of his conduct that reflected adversely on his honesty or integrity.
More than a year ago, Bayleys pleaded guilty to three charges over the matter and was fined the maximum $750 under the present law, which is about to be overhauled when Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove introduces his bill into the House before Christmas.
