A company that misled people into believing they were buying
their homes has been convicted on eight charges and ordered
to pay reparation.
The Commerce Commission said the convictions were under the
Fair Trading Act. CMA Property Investments Ltd has been fined
$40,000 and ordered to pay $42,290 in reparation to occupiers
of properties. CMA was also ordered to pay $1040 in court
costs and $1600 in solicitors' costs.
It is the fourth company to be convicted in association with
the scheme. In August, Southern Group Housing, Newfoundland
Ltd and Invercargill Property Management all pleaded guilty
to breaching the Fair Trading Act. The three companies were
fined and ordered to pay reparation.
The scheme was aimed at people in Invercargill who were
renting homes and who would not ordinarily be able to get a
mortgage through a standard lender. It led people to believe
that they would be buying their own homes. The occupiers did
not believe that they were getting involved in a rent-to-buy
scheme. They thought that the agreements gave them all the
normal rights associated with buying a house when legal title
actually remained with the property management companies.
The occupiers would not have owned their own homes until the
end of the 30-year period, said Adrian Sparrow, commission
director of fair trading.
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