How AFL player Jose Romero won $500K real estate battle

Former AFL player turned property developer, Jose Romero, has had a win in court after going up against a prominent real estate agent over a Moonee Ponds development.

Jose Romero playing for the Western Bulldogs in 2000.

An AFL player turned property developer has had a $500,000 court win in a dispute with a prominent real estate agent over problems at an apartment and retail development.

Jose Romero, who played 211 games at North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, had a major victory in Victoria’s County Court this week.

Judge Sharon Burchell dismissed a $280,000 claim against him from real estate agent Brad Teal.

She also ordered Mr Teal pay Mr Romero’s court costs, estimated to be more than $200,000.

The dispute centred over a development in Moonee Ponds, in Melbourne’s inner north western suburbs, which Mr Romero developed through his company EVR Group.

Mr Teal had claimed there were problems with the ground floor retail outlet he purchased off the plan, including drainage issues and wheelchair access.

He sued Mr Romero, who tied with Chris Grant as the Bulldogs best and fairest in 1996.

But he did not chase the builder.

Jose Romero. Picture: Supplied

Brad Teal. Picture: Supplied

Judge Burchell found in a 61-page judgment that Mr Teal could not chase the developer and instead should have made a claim against the builder.

“I find that there is judgment for EVR Group, with costs,” she wrote.

Mr Teal had argued that Mr Romero had gone with a cheaper company, Merrion 6, to build the apartment block with ground level retail outlets on Maribyrnong Road.

But Mr Romero told the court that his bank had approved the builder, not him.

The builder that provided the second, higher quote, Legacy Homes, was a domestic builder that went broke during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Judge Burchell found that Mr Teal was an “opinionated and argumentative” witness and that his claim to have sold 30,000 properties during 50 years as a real estate agent “implausible”.

She found that Mr Teal had the capacity to pay to repair the drainage problem and that he had already done so when the case went to court in October, 2023.

Mr Romero was described as a “careful, considered witness who was ready to make appropriate concessions”.

“I have generally found the account of Mr Romero to be cohesive, plausible and consistent,” she wrote.

The development property in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne. Picture: Google

The builder Merrion 6 was run by Andrew Nadinic, whose father Frank had appeared on A Current Affair over failure to pay subcontractors in Queensland.

According to the court documents, Mr Romero thought Frank Nadinic was a “crook” and raised concerns with Andrew Nadinic in an email in 2018.

“It would be foolish of me not to be slightly concerned about some of your family’s past history and some of the publicity that has been received,” he wrote, according to the judgment.

He said that Frank Nadinic was only added to the project because he had a domestic building licence, which was needed as well as a commercial licence.

“Mr Romero was not happy with the inclusion as he did not want Frank involved in his development,” the judgment said.

Mr Teal had claimed that Mr Romero had told him “you’ll get what you want” and “I won’t let you down” because he was a “local”.

But Mr Romero told the court he didn’t know Mr Teal and would never have “buttered him up” with those words.

The court ordered that $100,000, which had been held on trust while Mr Teal made his court claim, be released to Mr Romero.