The trust which owned the Waiaruhe Station near Dannevirke has been ordered to pay more than $132,000 in unpaid real estate commission after a farm property was sold within the family.

Historically, the station and the neighbouring Ohukia Station were part of a family farm which was divided in 1979 between brothers Barry Beatson and Maurice Beatson.

The two parts were settled into trusts, with Barry’s trust owning Waiaruhe Station and Maurice’s trust owning Ohukia Station.

In 2017, Barry’s trust, of which Maurice was also a trustee, entered into an agency agreement with Property Brokers agent Jim Crispin to sell Waiaruhe Station.

The property was passed in at auction on April 6 that year but Crispin received an offer of $6.6 million from an outside buyer, the Matahiwi-Handyside Trust, on July 26.

By then, the agency agreement had expired but Crispin obtained both Barry and Maurice’s signatures on a renewal document the next day, along with that of co-trustee Peter Roebuck, before he presented the offer.

Barry Beatson signed acceptance of the $6.6 million offer on July 27.

Maurice Beatson then told his brother and Crispin that if he had known the station would be sold for $6.6 million, he would have bought it himself. However, he too signed the offer, as did Roebuck.

The offer was conditional on Handyside confirming it had completed due diligence by 4pm on August 3.

At 4.03pm that day, Handyside’s confirmation had not been received.

Barry’s lawyer sent an email cancelling the Handyside sale in favour of an unconditional offer from Maurice’s trust made at the same price two days earlier.

Confirmation of Handyside’s due diligence condition was received at 4.08pm, but by then it was too late.

The sale to Maurice’s trust went through and was completed in December 2017.

On August 23, 2017, Property Brokers issued an invoice to the Waiaruhe Trust for $132,250, for commission on the sale according to its agency agreement.

The Beatson brothers and Roebuck argued that Property Brokers were not entitled to any commission.

Property Brokers then took the Waiaruhe Trust to court.

A decision handed down by Judge Kevin Kelly in the Dannevirke District Court said part of the brothers’ argument was that they had entered into a “family arrangement” to buy and sell the property.

Barry Beatson at the failed Waiaruhe Station auction in 2017.

They also argued that the agency agreement was invalid, alleging breaches of the Real Estate Agents Act, which requires that an agent provide an appraisal and details of how the property will be marketed.

They said they had not been made aware of the agency’s in-house procedures for complaints and settling disputes – another legal requirement.

However, Judge Kelly found against them, and determined that an agency agreement did exist between the trust and Property Brokers on the date that the brothers agreed to transfer the property between the trusts.

The Beatson brothers and Roebuck, as trustees of the Waiaruhu Trust, were ordered to pay Property Brokers $132,825 in commission, plus interest at 2 per cent per month, plus costs.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay.