Rick Otton

<html><body>
Australia’s most infamous property spruiker Rick Otton, the controversial How To Buy A House For $1 author, has filed for bankruptcy, crippled by the largest fine in corporate history.
It comes five months after he and his company were fined $18 million for misleading property investors following ACCC legal action.
The Federal Court judgment found breaches of Australian Consumer Law of $12 million against Otton’s business and $6 million against him personally.
But his four bank accounts have just $18,800, including $5.74 with NAB, ­according to his statement of affairs filed on the national personal insolvency index at the Australian Financial Security Authority.
There was $37,000 owing on his credit cards.
Otton’s We Buy Houses company had been conducting “training programs” since 2000.
It is known that between 2011 and 2014, he generated around $20 million in revenue from the training programs.
The Court found that Otton made false or misleading representations that his students could successfully implement the wealth creation strategies he taught.
About 3400 consumers attended the free seminars, and a further 2000 people attended the boot camps. Would-be investors were given some information at the initial free session, then more if they paid $3000 to attend the boot camp or the $26,000 mentoring workshops.
The court noted “there may have been consumers who were determined to buy the respondents’ snake oil regardless of the respondents’ conduct”.
Otton, who demonstrated he was “profoundly uninterested” in compliance, was banned from managing corporations for 10 years in Australia.
Otton’s last property deal was the recent sale of his own Bondi Beach semi.
The four-bedroom Roscoe Street property, listed with a $3.2 million to $3.5 million price guide, fetched $2.9 million last December, having been bought in 2007 for $1.6 million.
He now gives his address as a one bedroom Coogee flat.
His paperwork advised his occupation now as a retiree.
There was little property listed as assets, just a Otton family superannuation trust owning a $2 million commercial building, along with an option to buy a 45,000 Euro apartment building at Saint Spyridonas in Greece, where he's shifted his spruiking sessions.
Otton taught real estate investment strategies that suggested students could buy a house for $1, without needing a deposit, bank loan or real estate experience, using little or none of their own money to create passive income streams through property.
They were advised they could quit their jobs to start making profits immediately.
In August 2017, the Federal Court found these claims were misleading, in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law, with Otton lodging an appeal.
The book authored by Otton, and websites included testimonials from ‘students’ claiming they were able to buy a house for $1, which the court found were false.
The ACCC instituted proceedings against We Buy Houses and Otton in 2015 following a co-ordinated investigation with New South Wales Fair Trading. 
Justice Jacqueline Gleeson’s judgment said consumers enticed by Otton were given a variety of strategies which included “rent-to-buy”, a “sandwich lease option” involving a middleman, and “sweat equity” option, where the buyer carries out renovations in lieu of paying a deposit.
Justice Gleeson accepted that some of the strategies were theoretically possible, but added there was no evidence they had been used by its students successfully.
None of WBH’s most successful students, known as “big kahunas”, provided evidence to the court to show what they had claimed to have achieved.
The ACCC called nine consumers as witnesses to describe how they had never achieved success.
One consumer and his partner attempted to buy properties in Bass Hill, Quakers Hill, Homebush West, North Bondi, Eastlakes and Lake Haven without financial success.
“In her judgment on liability, Justice Gleeson said the free seminars were a waste of time, and that the boot camps and the mentoring programs were an expensive waste of time,” the ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
The decision imposed the largest pecuniary penalty order against an individual and separately, against a corporation, for breaches of the ACL, has been heralded as a new era of tougher penalties for ACL breaches.
This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.
</body></html>

jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Property spruiker Rick Otton files for bankruptcy

<html><body>
International property spruiker Rick Otton, the controversial How To Buy A House For $1 author, pulled his Bondi Beach semi from its scheduled auction on Saturday.
The attendees were told there’d been an acceptable pre-auction offer.
The <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-duplex+semi-detached-nsw-bondi+beach-129976134" target="_blank">four-bedroom Roscoe St semi</a> had been listed with a $3.2 million to $3.5 million price guide by Di Baker, of Di Baker Prestige Properties, who added interest to the prospective sale by telling buyers that the exchange paperwork had yet been officially signed.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/12/17/OTT3.jpg" alt="">
The semi last traded in 2007 for $1.6 million when bought with Jane Otton.
Otton was in the news last month after he and his company were fined $18 million for misleading property investors.
The Federal Court judgment was for breaches of Australian Consumer Law — some $12 million against Otton’s business and $6 million against him personally. He was banned from managing corporations for 10 years in Australia.
This article was first published in the Sunday Telegraph.
</body></html>

firstname1-iYD4UYzvBa

Property spruiker Rick Otton accepts pre-auction offer for Bondi Beach semi 

<html><body>
Property spruiker Rick Otton has listed his Bondi Beach semi for December auction.
It comes after his $18 million fine for misleading investors by the Federal Court for breaches of the Australian Consumer Law, $12 million against Otton’s business We Buy Houses and $6 million against him personally.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/11/27/OTT2.jpg" alt="">
Mr Otton was also banned from managing corporations for 10 years in Australia.
It has been scheduled for <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-duplex+semi-detached-nsw-bondi+beach-129976134" target="_blank">a December 15 auction</a> with a $3.2 million to $3.5 million price guide.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/11/27/OTT3.jpg" alt="">
The four-bedroom Roscoe Street semi listed by by Di Baker, of Di Baker Prestige Properties was bought it in 2007 for $1.6 million through Adrian Bo at McGrath.
Records show it is the only NSW property held in Otton’s name.
It is held with Jane Otton.
There are two Westpac mortgages.
 
 
</body></html>

Property spruiker Rick Otton lists Bondi Beach semi

<html><body>
Rick Otton, the Australian property spruiker posted 40 videos on YouTube giving potential clients insights on doing deals on the eve of being fined a record $6 million for misleading conduct.
Otton has been seeking investors to buy into overseas real estate, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jszV6gJs5bI" target="_blank">including Athens.</a>
The Federal Court has <a href="https://www.urban.com.au/news/92393-rick-otton-s-property-mentoring-bootcamps-an-expensive-waste-of-money-federal-court" target="_blank">imposed­ an $18 million fine</a> on Otton’s company We Buy Houses Pty Ltd.
About 2000 people across Australia paid Otton $3000 to attend boot camps between 2011 and 2014.
Otton presents himself as a self-made multi-millionaire property investor and real estate consumer advocate.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2018/11/16/Ott3.jpg" alt="">
Some 700 people paid up to $26,000 each for individual mentoring.
They had been lured by Otton’s buyer of buying a home for $1.
Some $20 million­ was raised by Otton before the Rod Sims at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began legal action against Otton and We Buy Houses Pty Ltd alleging false or misleading conduct.
The Telegraph wrote he now spends much of his time travelling in the UK, Spain, and Greece.
“We will be bringing this judgment to the attention of authorities overseas,” Sims said.
Sims told 2GB's Ross Greenwood that Otton would raise up people’s hopes, then “dash them and left [sic] them out of pocket”.
His recent videos on YouTube includes a 2002 ABC documentary on him. 
</body></html>

j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Property spruiker Rick Otton turns attention to investors in Athens Riviera

<html><body>
A Federal Court Judge has found the property spruiker Rick Otton has broken Australian consumer laws. 
Justice Jacqueline Gleeson concluded there was no evidence that the strategies spruiked by Otton could actually enable a consumer to buy a house for $1.
The judgement advised that the We Buy Houses seminars that students attended were an "expensive waste of time".
The claim by Otton's that his clients could "buy a house for $1" was misleading and and contravened the Australian Consumer Law.
Rick Otton's company We Buy Houses (WBH) had a turnover of more than $20 million.
Between January 2011 and June 2014, 3,400 people attended free seminars, 2,000 paid to attend a boot camp to learn more information, and 700 did another expensive course with mentors.
Would-be investors were given some information at the initial free session, then more if they paid $3,000 to attend the boot camp and the $26,000 mentoring workshops.
"For ordinary consumers seeking how to achieve the outcomes stated ... the free seminars were a waste of time," Justice Gleeson said.
"I formed the view that Mr Otton was a very unreliable witness who was prepared to maintain or defend statements that were obviously untrue or misleading and who is habitually careless with the truth."
"The headline 'how to buy a house for $1' indicates that [WBH and Otton] were directing their efforts principally towards people who were not property rich, but who would be attracted to the idea that they could make money from property without having to pay a significant amount for it," Justice Gleeson said.
"The message is sensational. It is designed to attract the attention of consumers who do not have sufficient financial resources to buy a house using mainstream bank finance."
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [ACCC] had alleged that WBH's further claims that a consumer could buy a house without needing a deposit, bank loan or experience, start making profits immediately, and create wealth were also misleading and deceptive.
Justice Gleeson's judgement said consumers enticed by WBH were given a variety of strategies and tips to achieve property ownership — some of which included "rent-to-buy", a "sandwich lease option" involving a middleman, and "sweat equity" option, where the buyer carries out renovations in lieu of paying a deposit.
Justice Gleeson accepted that some of the WBH strategies were theoretically possible, but added there was no evidence they had been used by its students successfully.
None of WBH's most successful students, known as "big kahunas", provided evidence to the court to show what they had claimed to have achieved, and while a number of testimonials were shown to the court, the judge said there was no evidence of the claims in them.
The ACCC called nine consumers as witnesses to describe how they had never achieved success by implementing what they learned.
One consumer and his partner attempted to buy properties in Bass Hill, Quakers Hill, Homebush West, North Bondi, Eastlakes and Lake Haven.
"Despite claiming that Mr Otton had been successful financially "in following these ideas and strategies", there was almost no evidence that [Mr Otton and WBH] had used the strategies, let alone used them to make money," Justice Gleeson said.
"I conclude that, in reality, the respondents' strategies do not and cannot enable a consumer to buy a house without needing a deposit, bank loan or real estate experience."
The ACCC instituted proceedings against We Buy Houses and Otton in March 2015 following an investigation with New South Wales Fair Trading.
"Today's judgment sends a strong message to 'property spruikers' that they must not make false or misleading representations about the success and profitability of their 'wealth creation strategies' to induce consumers to pay significant sums to learn about them," <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/property-spruiker-made-false-or-misleading-representations" target="_blank">ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.</a>
In a statement, Otton said he was pleased that the court accepted it was inconceivable that an ordinary or reasonable person would take the phrase "How to Buy a House for a $1" at face value.
"As I so often explained, the technique was designed to help homeowners who can no longer pay home loan repayments and with the help of a turnaround specialist, ensures that they do not become mortgagee sale roadkill," Otton said.
"We accept Her Honour's findings that insufficient proof was presented to prove how this vendor finance technique can work in practice."
</body></html>

Rick Otton

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News

Rick Otton

Editor's Picks

Receive the latest news stories to your inbox

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News