Nz property celeb in trouble

High flying real estate agent and former TV presenter Michael Boulgaris has described an Employment Relations Authority ruling ordering him to pay back more than £57,000 as "very unfair"...

"I am very hurt by it to tell you the truth," said Boulgaris, who added he would speak to his solicitor tomorrow to decide whether to fight the decision.

"But I'm pleased it has come to rest," he added. "It was a chapter in my life and it wasn't pleasant."

The case stems from Boulgaris' year in Queenstown during 2004-2005, when he was being paid up to £17,500 a month in advance commissions by Wensley Developments to sell apartments at luxury retreat The Club on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

Boulgaris, who used to front TV One's Location, Location, Location show, was paid £187,400 in advance commissions during his year working for the Queenstown firm, when in fact he had earned just under £120,000. Boulgaris wrote to the company complaining that the "availability of the product range" was behind schedule, preventing him from making the annual income that was predicted in his contract.

He said he had been "lured" to Queenstown with unrealistic promises of earnings potential. He said when prices in the resort rocketed he found it "almost impossible" to sell apartments in the development.

"I was selling to people in my circle of influence and having to look them in the eye and tell them it was value for money. It was awful."

The authority heard that Boulgaris had offered to repay the money from future commissions but his offer was rejected by Wensley, the biggest apartment developer in Queenstown.

The company wrote to Boulgaris claiming a debt of £57, 311 which was "otherwise recoverable if commission revenue does not enable recovery".

In his evidence to the Employment Relations Authority, Boulgaris said he did not owe any "refund" to Wensley because what they paid him was the least they represented he would earn.

Wensley Developments Governing Director Ross Wensley said he would be disappointed if Boulgaris did not accept the authority's decision.

"We are confident he will be unsuccessful, it was a straightforward determination by the ERA."

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz