OMAZE house

[walkinthewoodstoday]

So, I'm thinking of entering this competion. Clearly as much chance of winning as me getting an Olympic gold medal, but I keep reading that these 'amazing' houses have issues. Eg one has been massively flooded and another is so close to the cliff edge that it might be uninsurable and when it falls the owners will have a massive clear up bill. The current one is in Finsbury Park and I've even been sad enough to streetview it. Can't see any obvious issues, so why is it an OMAZE house? Please enlighten me!

[Flapjackquack]

@Kennykenkencat

Squatting is illegal
I suppose if they do whittle down to only allowing those that can afford 6 months of bills for the house then the people winning it won’t be too concerned with the expenses until the house sells.

Do you like to just pop up on threads to declare what is illegal? Yes squatting in a residential building is illegal, doesn’t mean people don’t do it

[Flapjackquack]

@a1poshpaws - it’s in their terms and conditions which are linked up thread. They do more than just credit checks and can say no if you might bring their brand into disrepute, that’s quite the vague statement.

[Flapjackquack]

@BrookeDavisQueen

Here's the money the British heart Foundation got from the previous one: £1m fundraising.co.uk/2021/04/09/omaze-house-draw-raises-1-million-for-british-heart-foundation/

That's a huge amount when charities are struggling.

Could the t&C's be due to the gambling commission regs? Having tried to do a PTA raffle I was surprised at how stringent the rules are on all types of raffles

Not saying it’s not nice for BHF to have but it’s 1% of their annual income and they are sat on reserves of just under £300mil. So nice, but BHF is not struggling. I struggle most with the charity aspect of this, they are trading off the charities’ names massively when most of the money is being made by Omaze still.

[hgaj]

I don't get the point of omaze. If you want to gamble just enter the national lottery - a bigger proportion goes to charity, and to the prize fund (with less as profit to the operator). If you win you can go and buy the house you want rather than one with potential problems. (If you want to enter omaze you can do it for free by post).

[Woeman]

@Moraxella

I think drawn 4th and announced 5th.

[Edinburghmusing]

@shrunkenhead people trafficking 😂😂😂

[EternalSunshine19]

@SwedishEdith

Here's next door. Looks like it has a massive balcony overlooking the Omaze one (pic. 5).

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-125346497-57568863?s=3c4576608b428df8398a948b63efac12cfd7d2ef2929d677d0daed655c1a41a9#/

The house next door looks a lot nicer. Especially the garden and the french doors with balcony from a bedroom.

[WinterFoxes]

@TheSproutOfWrath

Omaze is a bit of a con. They whittle down to a select few and do credit checks on you. If you have any debt etc you won't get picked.

Seriously? Are they allowed to do this within the laws of a lottery draw?

[WinterFoxes]

@Squabbledee

I think the house is very unattractive & souless. You'd never think it was a period property looking at the interior pics.

I think it is bloody beautiful. Gorgeous marble fireplace and wood panelling. Get rid of the ugly modern furniture and it would be a home in no time. I would love to live there. It's pretty much my dream.

I'm tempted to apply now.

[TheSproutOfWrath]

@WinterFoxes

Seriously? Are they allowed to do this within the laws of a lottery draw?

It's all within the terms and conditions. You also have to be a UK citizen.

You can have a read through all the rules and regulations but I promise you, its hard going 😴

[Edinburghmusing]

@TheSproutOfWrath it is regulated and they can’t behave unreasonably. It is reasonable for them not to give the house to someone where there is a risk of money laundering. Or an evident and material risk thst someone is likely to engage in anti social behaviour for example.

they can’t pick and choose in the way that you are suggesting.

[tulips27]

@a1poshpaws Also, I can't dredge up a single reason why it would matter to Omaze whether the winner were a millionaire or Bankrupt. What possible affect would it have on them?

I agree but they do focus quite heavily on the wholesome/family/deserving image of the winners in their marketing; someone who is undesirable in their view would affect their ability to do this.

[Edinburghmusing]

@tulips27 its not about wholesome risk. It’s about r having a duty of care not to put a known criminal gang into the house for example. It would have to be relatively extreme.

[Flapjackquack]

The problem is unless it came from a whistleblower inside Omaze, how would anyone know if they were unfairly discriminating? Same for any closed competition but I can’t think of any others with this prize level done in this way. It’s not like the lottery where they have no idea who has bought the winning ticket, and the numbers are publicised for all to see. Omaze could easily pick a few, background check them, and then pick the winner who most fitted with their desired brand image. How would we know?

[Flapjackquack]

@Edinburghmusing - but honestly why not? If a criminal won the competition fair and square, they should win the prize. Their criminal activity is something for the justice system to deal with. The National Lottery don’t get to decide who is worthy and deserving of their prizes, as long as the winner entered fairly and didn’t cheat the game. Why should Omaze get to pick and choose with background checks and it still be a fair competition.

[Edinburghmusing]

@Flapjackquack there is regulatory oversight and the charities themselves would do due diligence. It simply wouldn’t be someone from omaze picking who they think would look best in photos.

as for why? Well - it wouldn’t be any criminal activity. I imagine the test would be along the lines of compliance with money laundering regulation. Then more general issues about potential anti social activity and criminal activities. I don’t know the details of the relevant law and regulation. But the point is that the would
not just pick and choose as has been suggested here.

[Edinburghmusing]

And I imagine that there are rules about the lottery giving money to known money launderers for example. I would be suprised if not.

[JauntyJinty]

I'm genuinely curious - how would it benefit Omaze to be picky with the winner?

I get that they have to be careful of Money laundering or other criminal activity, but if a "normal" person wins how would they benefit by refusing them the prize? I assume they would have to pick a new winner and wouldn't just get to keep all the money and the prize!

[ShyMaryEllen]

Surely it would be fraudulent of Omaze to 'fiddle' the result? There are strict regulations on gambling, and I can't believe that disqualifying people for opaque reasons would comply with them at all.

[Flapjackquack]

@Edinburghmusing

And I imagine that there are rules about the lottery giving money to known money launderers for example. I would be suprised if not.

@Edinburghmusing - Nope, the lottery check your ticket, check 2 forms of ID and send you your money. Your past is not their business. Charities happily receive millions in National Lottery funding without these intrusive checks on winners.

I am not sure what money laundering could occur in entering a competition you are not guaranteed to win. There is also nothing to say the winners won’t be anti social or are criminals who haven’t been caught yet. There are zero reasons that Omaze needs to do these checks other than to make sure you fit their image. They even allude to it in the T&Cs.

[WinterFoxes]

@Edinburghmusing

@tulips27 its not about wholesome risk. It’s about r having a duty of care not to put a known criminal gang into the house for example. It would have to be relatively extreme.

But shouldn't this screening come at the point of sale? It's bad practice to sell a ticket to someone you wouldn't allow to win.

[BucketofTeaMassiveCake]

I agree with PP, these apparently wonderful houses can't be sold by ordinary means - so there must a be a big problem, mustn't there? At least one of them has been revealed to have had a flooding problem.

I wonder what happens financially for the winner. If they put the house on the market and it doesn't sell because of those historic problems would it end up being a millstone round your neck? Suppose no-one makes an offer within the 'honeymoon period' of one year would you then be liable for council tax, repairs, maintenance, etc until you managed to offload it. Is that how it would work? It could end up costing you instead of being a boon, as it were.

Without wishing to sound like a wet blanket I won't be buying a ticket.

[SweetSakura]

@BucketofTeaMassiveCake

I agree with PP, these apparently wonderful houses can't be sold by ordinary means - so there must a be a big problem, mustn't there? At least one of them has been revealed to have had a flooding problem.

I wonder what happens financially for the winner. If they put the house on the market and it doesn't sell because of those historic problems would it end up being a millstone round your neck? Suppose no-one makes an offer within the 'honeymoon period' of one year would you then be liable for council tax, repairs, maintenance, etc until you managed to offload it. Is that how it would work? It could end up costing you instead of being a boon, as it were.

Without wishing to sound like a wet blanket I won't be buying a ticket.

You could bring the house in an auction with a low ish reserve if you really wanted it sold.

Agree a lottery win sounds far less hassle though!

[Flapjackquack]

Interestingly the gambling commission says they cannot promote paid entries over unpaid but the minimum you can buy is 15 entries but a postal entry is just one entry.

They also say you can’t make a winner’s details public without their permission but Omaze gives no option, and that you can’t run a competition where a proportion of entries are excluded from winning. I am not sure how Omaze has got round those.