19 February 2012

Sunday Open Thread: Pawpaw Hits The Fan At Auction Alliance


Auction kickback scandal

Auction company Auction Alliance has allegedly been colluding with banks, liquidators and attorneys in a money making racket, according to reports on Saturday. 

The Saturday Star reported that a 13-year old paper trail revealed that the company had paid kickbacks to attorneys, liquidators, and bank staff to ensure business went their way.

 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

There was a comment from a well-known property ‘guru’ that this type of scandal has ‘affected the property market & kept it depressed’.

Can there be any truth in this?

Wattle said...

I noticed on a recent "Auction mandate" that the company agreed to pay a fourth part of their 10% auctioneers fee (paid by the Purchaser) back to the seller. The problem with this obviously being that the indicated Sales price on CMA and propstats is no longer accurate at all. Automated value, although to be treated with care, are therefore artificially driven down. Value estimating services, offered by the likes of Property24 and Private Property therefore reflect lower prices in general PLUS due to the increased amount of auctioned properties over the last couple of years - the image gets distorted. No doubt house and flat prices are inflated in most cases, but that is another story altogether.

The truth shall set you free said...

AAAAAah please....this is such a storm in a tea cup!!!

These auction industry practices have been standard for the past 50 years and the Argus in CT thinks it has uncovered something new.

If anything, the property auctions of late have revealed just how overpriced property really is in this country.

@Eric doms...do you really think that the market is dpressed becuase of some kickback? This 'guru' is clutching at straws and is trying any excuse to escape from the reality of the market.

Rael Levitt is a trail blazer in the property auctioning game and this is just a minor hiccup for his company. Auction Alliance is, by far, the most professional auctioneer on this continent and is light years ahead of the competition and no one one sided article in a pathetic newspaper like the Argus is going to change the truth.

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Unknown said...

@ The Truth shall set you Free

The property guru is Coert Coetzee and his article was published here:

http://www.lightminded.com/2012/02/20/liquidator-scandal/

I think it’s still too early to tell what the outcome will be, so before we jump to any conclusions let’s wat to see what happens.....

CJ Says said...

Did you see the film clip on Carte Blanches when the only buyer dropped out of the bidding and the auctioneer was left with the bid of his flunky in the crowd who had been trying to push the price up ... he got all flustered and went back to the previous bid - no wonder she is now taking them to court - the whole auction business is more smelly than the estate agent business.

As for Coert Coetzee being called in to comment ... this is a bit rich ... isn't he the guy that uses all sorts of trusts to protect investors against property prices collapsing, which would leave the banks holding the baby.

The US property market has done what it should and although it is still in trouble, prices are where they should be. The stench from the shysters manipulating the property markets in the UK and SA is becoming nauseating.