KEY POINTS:
A victim of the leaky building disaster will have her home sold a week before Christmas at the request of the body corporate.
John Gray of the Leaky Homes Action Group said an Auckland woman's townhouse in Morningside would be auctioned next week, after she refused to pay a big repair bill.
"This is the first case where a multi-unit owner will lose their home," Mr Gray said, expressing frustration and anger about the situation, which he said was extremely alarming.
The unit is in the Rossmay Terrace apartments off Sandringham Rd opposite Eden Park.
He said the places suffered extensive weathertightness issues so the body corporate, representing all the owners, took action against the Auckland City Council and parties involved in building the flats.
Records from the High Court at Auckland showed that on July 12 last year, the matter was set down for a hearing before Justice Raynor Asher, with Tim Rainey of Grimshaw & Co acting for the body corporate.
But the matter did not proceed, the council applied for it to be struck out and the owners got an out-of-court settlement of about $5 million, which paid for part of the repairs. Extensive work was carried out but owners had to contribute some of their own money.
One woman refused to participate in the legal action or pay for any repairs. So in a separate move, body corporate 187242 took legal action against her. It succeeded.
On June 23, the High Court at Auckland made an order that her place be sold. The body corporate expects to get the amount it is claiming first. Any money left over will go to the owner.
Mr Gray said the situation was a total tragedy and predicted many more such cases, with numerous people at loggerheads with their body corporates over multimillion-dollar repairs.
The Weekend Herald has tried to contact the owner but Mr Gray said he held grave fears about her, due to the appalling situation.
Barfoot & Thompson auctions the home next Wednesday.
Quotable Value records show the townhouse has a $275,000 capital value, comprising $100,000 in land and buildings worth $175,000.
Nor is Barfoots disguising the acrimony behind the sale.
The agency advertised the deal as a "High Court sale" and is marketing it as being undertaken at the request of the sheriff of the High Court at Auckland, as assignee of body corporate 187242.
Mr Rainey said this was the third case he knew of where the sale of a victim's property was sought by a body corporate.
"There have been a few cases I'm aware of, another two, where the body corporate has had the houses sold. We continue to act for one person in that position. It's a very unfortunate situation."
The most common technique was for a body corporate seek a writ from the court, effectively forcing the sale.
Grimshaws had acted for the body corporate but the owner whose unit was being sold had never participated in any proceedings, Mr Rainey said. He refused to disclose the payout but said the owners were satisfied and the file was closed.
One woman's place
The Rossmay Terrace flat has:
Three bedrooms and two-vehicle garage.
80 sq m of floor area and a top location.
Zoned for Auckland Girls and Mt Albert Grammar.
Marketed as being in "the trendiest part of Auckland".
