Rural realtor PGG Wrightson Real Estate has been ordered to pay more than $780,000 in damages and other costs for the overpayment of a $2.8m farm sale in 2010. File picture. Photo: Adam Simpson
PGG Wrightson Real Estate has been found liable for negligence for "carelessly" misrepresenting details about a West Coast dairy farm it sold 15 years ago, the Supreme Court of New Zealand has found.
The rural realtor was ordered to pay more than $780,000 in damages and other costs on Thursday, for the overpayment of the $2.8 million farm sale in 2010.
Court documents showed the sale featured incorrect descriptions about the herd size and milk production at the 105 hectare site near Hokitika.
It was found the farm had never averaged the 103,000 kilograms of milk solids over three seasons as advertised, which was later calculated to be more like over 98,000 kilograms of milk solids.
Despite the new owners borrowing more from the bank and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on fertiliser and re-grassing, production never reached these levels.
At their highest the new owners reached over 88,500 kilograms of milk solids and just under 60,600 at its lowest.
Amid increasing debt and falling returns, the new owners were forced to sell the financially-unviable farm in 2020, a decade after the purchase.
Documents showed they said they would have never bought the farm if they knew its true performance.
The court has dismissed PGG's cross-appeal.
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