Hmmmm, we have a little problem in NZ with MD's. They no longer make the ultimate decision. They will "empower you" with all the info on your problem and a suggested remedy. But then THEY ask YOU what you think and witch corse of Action you would suggest you take. That way it takes the resposibilty away from them. I thought and still think it is hideouse when I have this approach used on me. I first thought it was just my doctor when I first had it happen. I changed Doctors only to find it was a conspiracy of approach.
Anyway's, in regards to the
boat issue. Well the first person Blame can be held against is the Seller. The law in a nutshell is that the Seller can not "hide" things. But the difficulty is proving the Seller new and I suggest that is close to impossible.
The next is the
Broker. It is required by law that the
Broker must not mis-represent any particulars about the
boat. Say for instance, the boat is advertised with a 150Hp
engine and it turns out after the
purchase that the
engine is one 100Hp. But then the Broker has a little disclaimer in their
contract that wipes them of responsibility, that the info is accurate as to what the Seller has told them. The Broker has no resposibility to info given. So that leaves the Purchaser with the
work of proving who and if the Seller was the second owner, then the seller can say that that is the info they have believed all along and the Buyer still has no easy leg to stand on.
So at the end of it all, the saying "Buyer be ware" is the truth. The Buyer is the poor guy at the end of it all, with very little comback unless he has a lot of
money to contest and a damn good lawyer, whom in the end takes a fare slice of the pudding anyway.
Personaly, I don't think it is fair. At least here in NZ, we don't have any licencing requirments for Brokers. I think they SHOULD require licencing AND have certain responsibilities to the purchaser. Here in NZ, the Broker earns from 6-10% of the sellign
price of the boat. In some circumstances, advertising can be on top of that as well. So they do didlysquat for the return, apart from being the deal maker and go between of the two parties.