Category Archives: Rick Otton

“Heaps of houses and heaps of money!”

Posted on September 16, 2022 by carolynbond

Sheree Becker, one of Otton’s “advanced mentoring students” has been found guilty of seven charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception.  (Update – Sentenced 29/11 to 3.5 years jail, minimum 15 months).   Feted by Otton (he referred to her as “advanced mentoring … Continue reading →

Posted in Rent to Buy, Rent to Buy Houses, rent to own, Rick Otton, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Record Penalty for Rick Otton

Posted on November 15, 2018 by carolynbond

On 15 November 2018, Rick Otton and We Buy Houses received the highest penalties ever imposed in Australia for breach of Australian Consumer Law. The Federal Court imposed penalties totalling $18 million against We Buy Houses Pty Ltd (We Buy … Continue reading →

Posted in Property Seminars, Rent to Buy, Rent to Buy Houses, rent to own, Rick Otton, vendor terms | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Rick Otton – Federal Court Decides

Posted on August 11, 2017 by carolynbond

On 11 August 2017, the Federal Court found that Rick Otton, and We Buy Houses (WBH) (referred to as “the respondents” below) engaged in conduct which was misleading or deceptive or was likely to mislead or deceive in contravention of the … Continue reading →

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Lease Options in Court

Posted on January 22, 2017 by carolynbond

A former Rick Otton student, and witness in his Federal Court case, lost a lease-option case in Supreme Court of NSW (Australia) in December 2016.  The case shows, once again, the risks faced by owners, buyers – and even ‘creative … Continue reading →

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Lease Options

Posted on April 16, 2016 by carolynbond

In this post I consider some examples of rent-to-buy houses (lease options) which were provided by the people who promote them.  Even these positive examples offer very little benefit to an unsophisticated ‘buyer’ in exchange for significant financial risk. It … Continue reading →

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When the going gets tough, the tough get …evasive?

Posted on August 27, 2014 by carolynbond

How have prominent rent-to-buy figures responded to challenges?   The rent-to-buy industry has faced some challenges over the past few years, including negative media coverage, attention from regulators and a series of prosecutions.

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Rent-to-buy selling techniques

Posted on July 5, 2014 by carolynbond

This post is about selling techniques taught by Rick Otton.  While not all rent-to-buy operators would use these techniques, it is likely that they are used widely in the industry. Many – perhaps most – of the people in this … Continue reading →

Posted in Rent to Buy, Rent to Buy Houses, rent to own, Rick Otton, sales psychology, vendor terms | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Big comeuppance for ‘Big Kahunas’

Posted on March 8, 2014 by carolynbond

The problem with ‘creative’ or ‘innovative’ strategies is that that the application of the law to the transactions may not have been tested in the courts.  I’ve written previously about what can go wrong for buyers and unsuspecting sellers, and … Continue reading →

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Acceptance of rent-to-buy – the Census question

Posted on February 24, 2014 by carolynbond

“This proves rent-to-buy is accepted!” (Update August 2016 – In 2016 the words in the Census question were changed from “rent/buy scheme” to “shared-equity scheme” suggesting that my conclusion in this post – that the question never referred to vendor finance or … Continue reading →

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Limitations of pre-contractual advice

Posted on February 17, 2014 by carolynbond

See 15/3/14 addition to this post This post focuses primarily on rent-to-buy house deals, but it also applies to some other complex or high-risk consumer contracts. I’ve explained how some rent-to-buy deals work, and what the risks are for buyers … Continue reading →

Posted in Rent to Buy, Rent to Buy Houses, rent to own, Rick Otton | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment