IMPAIR PRACTICE

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XVII, Issue 5877, 1 April 1920, Page 2

IMPAIR PRACTICE

BY SOME LAND AGENTS

SOLDIERS AND THEIR J)EPOS I TS. The Commissioner of Crown Lunds for Canterbury (Mr. 11. D. M. Haszard; lias issued a warning that he will publish the names of certain land agents ii they persist i'n their jiractice of calling upon discharged soldiers to forfeit deposits paid upon house properties for the purchase of which no Government

advance is granted. When a discharged soldier seeks Go-vc-rumeut assistance in the purchase oi a house, lie first secures an option oyer a place, then applies to the Lands Department to have his case recommended to the Minister for Lands for an ad va.ucie. As a rule, le is required to pay a deposit on the house. In some agreements. the soldier stipulates that such

deposit is to he returned it his application flir an advance is not granted; but where such a stipulation is not made, some agents are laying claim to the deposit if die purchase is (not confirmed in the soldier. Some observations upon this position were made by Mr Ha-szard at tin 1 opening of a slitting of the Canterbury Land Board this week. “We find,’*' said the Commissioner, “that, in a ‘number o‘ cases, vendors and ageiats are demanding rather heavy deposits from the soldier, and. unless l e makes a specific stipulation that, in the event of the board not being able to recommend the advance this deposit should bo returned, we find that some ol these people are claiming the forfeiture

of the deposit. I should like publicity ■given to that, so that soldiers may know the position, unless the advalnee they are asking for is granted by the Government, their deposit should be retm'ned. “It is not a fair positllm to place.the soldiers in, that what little money they have should be foifeited by way of deposit. Of course., we' fill'd that some agents act in a very lair way, and do

not make any question about returning the deposit when they find that, for some rcas’on or other, the application for an advance cannot bo forwarded to the Minister. Unfortunately, in some eases, the reverse lias taken place, and I think that, in the event of any Such cases in the future, I shall have to give publicity to the names of agents acting 'in that manner.