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A North Shore woman died after waiting almost three years for the Real Estate Institute to deal with her complaint over the sale of a house.
In November 2004, primary school teacher Bronwyn Hilbron lodged a formal objection about the sale of her Birkenhead property. She claimed an agent under-sold it by $88,000 and instead of getting an anticipated $420,000, she received $332,000.
Last month, she died after suffering from cancer.
Her daughter, Suzanne Hilbron, has vowed to continue the fight for justice, saying her mother died deeply disappointed with the institute's lack of action.
Up until her last moments, she was still talking about the case and the distress and financial hardship it had caused her, Suzanne Hilbron said.
The agent who sold the house has denied exerting pressure.
"Despicable," said Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove of the institute's lack of action in the case. He called for the institute to dip into its $3 million fidelity fund to compensate the victim's family.
"Every day there's another case like this and I'm getting very tired of it," Mr Cosgrove said. Agents were earning $1.2 billion in annual commissions and had no need to behave poorly towards their clients, he said. "The institute is unresponsive, unfriendly to consumers, unfocused and bureaucratic."
In two weeks Mr Cosgrove will release a draft document to vastly improve consumer protection for those buying and selling houses. His proposals are expected to remove the institute's power to investigate or hear complaints and strengthen the licensing board which has the power to strike off agents.
The institute said it understood and shared people's frustrations about the delays. But it had referred the matter to its licensing board and a hearing would be allocated.
The delays had been caused by the institute seeking to establish a new complaints procedure which required Mr Cosgrove's approval.
But these plans had not gone ahead, it said. The institute had investigated Mrs Hilbron's case and had talked to all parties involved. Officials had always stayed in touch with her and her family, the institute said.
Lawyer John Waymouth wrote to Mr Cosgrove, saying Mrs Hilbron had died without getting a fair hearing.
"That the institute honestly believes it is doing a good job is a pathetic statement when one considers the ineptitude, arrogance, negligence and sheer inability demonstrated in this matter," Mr Waymouth wrote.
The lawyer said he was incensed about the case involving agents from Ray White Birkenhead. He said the case demonstrated that the institute never had the public's interest at heart.
In December 2004, Mrs Hilbron complained to the institute that her Vonnell Place house had been valued in 2004 at $420,000 yet she had been put under enormous pressure to sign a contract selling it for just $332,000.
Agent Michael Tromp had put her under tremendous stress and harangued her after an unsuccessful auction, she said.
She was told the market was dropping, interest rates were rising and she should expect only the low amount. "They both just kept haranguing me and arguing with me and not letting up at all," Mrs Hilbron complained to the institute.
"My confidence was being eroded ... and I just felt under sustained attack. I was getting more and more pressured."
So she signed, then the next day called to complain and say she wanted out, but was told it was too late.
Mr Waymouth said the agents had ignored his client's rights and put her under considerable duress and undue influence to force her to sign.
She had signed under the false impression the law allowed a cooling-off period, Mr Waymouth said. This law applied in Australia, but it does not in New Zealand and the sale went ahead, he said.
Michael Tromp, formerly of Ray White, said he had sold the house but denied exerting pressure.
"I didn't have a knife or a gun," he said, adding that he had achieved the best price for the house and was surprised to learn later that Mrs Hilbron had complained. She was the best vendor he had dealt with and he was surprised to learn later that she was unhappy about the price.
Graham Gill, licensee of Ray White Birkenhead, said he was not the licensee in charge of the agency at the time the house was sold. He said he expected to hear from the licensing board and to appear at the hearing.
