{"id":646899,"date":"2026-10-31T12:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/646899\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T12:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T12:58:22","slug":"property-buyers-warned-of-expensive-middlemen-selling-overpriced-lim-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/646899\/","title":{"rendered":"Property buyers warned of \u2018expensive middlemen\u2019 selling overpriced LIM reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whanganui District Council is warning property buyers to avoid third-party websites charging inflated prices for Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports.<\/p>\n

Customers can get the same official information directly from the council for a fraction of the cost, the council said.<\/p>\n

The council’s Regulatory and Compliance Operations Manager Jason Shailer said there is no need for buyers to use costly go-betweens.<\/p>\n

“These websites are essentially acting as expensive middlemen, ordering reports from councils on behalf of customers and charging substantially more for the service.<\/p>\n

“People are being charged hundreds of dollars extra for a so-called express service, when paying a third party won’t make us process the report any faster.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The council became aware of one such website after a local real estate agent alerted a resident who had paid a significantly inflated price for a ‘fast-tracked’ LIM report.<\/p>\n

The website, which presents itself as a New Zealand land information service but is understood to be operating from overseas, advertises residential LIM reports for Whanganui properties for $1299, with an additional $299 for express delivery – more than five times the council’s standard fee.<\/p>\n

A residential LIM report ordered directly from Whanganui District Council costs $305.<\/p>\n

Shailer said the website advertises a 10-working day turnaround for its express service, but councils are already legally required to process LIM reports within 10 working days of receiving an application and payment.<\/p>\n

“Buying a property is expensive enough without paying an extra $1300 for information you can easily obtain directly from us.<\/p>\n

“Our advice is simple: if you need a LIM report in Whanganui, order it directly from us. You’ll get the same official report in the same timeframe without the substantial additional cost.”<\/p>\n

The warning follows similar concerns raised by Waitaki District Council this week, where third-party websites have also been found charging significant markups for LIM reports.<\/p>\n

LIM reports contain information held by councils about properties, including rates, building consents, drainage, natural hazards and other details that may affect a property purchase.<\/p>\n

Shailer said the issue highlights the importance of exercising caution when buying services online.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, there are people and businesses out there aiming to take advantage of others, and increasingly sophisticated websites can make it difficult to tell who you’re really dealing with.<\/p>\n

“This is a reminder that we all need to be vigilant. Before paying for anything online, take a moment to check who you’re dealing with, what you’re paying for, and whether you’re getting a fair deal.”<\/p>\n

LIM reports for properties in the Whanganui district can be ordered directly through whanganui.govt.nz.<\/p>\n

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whanganui District Council is warning property buyers to avoid third-party websites charging inflated prices for Land Information Memorandum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-646899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}