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I hope 2017 has started well for you all. While many New Zealanders enjoy holidays and long weekends over summer, I know that for many of you this is a busy time of year.
In this newsletter you can read about:
- Five steps to resolving complaints
- Balancing obligations between clients and purchasers
- Buying a client's property - what you need to know
- Laws and rules all licensees should know
Firstly, in brief...
- Your licence renewal: Most licensees have licences which must be renewed by 31 March. If this affects you, we sent you an email in January. We will also send you a text and email reminder if we have not received your application by 17 March. If you're not sure when your licence expires, check the public register or your evidence of licence. You should renew your licence on the online portal.
- Continuing education: Disclosure is the topic for 2017. Now is a good time to schedule your continuing education for the year. You'll find the list of education providers here.
- REAA Board: Our February Board meeting was held in Christchurch and was an opportunity to host local licensees at an evening function to meet the Board and REAA managers. There was good discussion about the local real estate market and issues. REAA is planning further opportunities to meet the Board around the country.
- New campaign for buyers: This month we launched a new landing page (a one-page-website) and online campaign for home buyers. We recognise that our current website is difficult to use on mobile phones and the new mini-site is a temporary measure to help consumers who need the most information. Meanwhile we are scoping a new website which will be built through 2017. You can see the landing page here.
- Back to full services: REAA is still in temporary offices following the November Kaikoura earthquake but we are now running at full service levels with the 0800 number up and running again. We have appreciated your patience and support. One positive outcome from the reduced service is that many of you have used the online portal for the first time and have had an opportunity to become familiar with online licence management. It is not clear when we will be able to return to our Brandon Street office and we will let you know ahead of time if there is any planned service disruption.
- A warning about invoice fraud: Invoice fraud is hitting New Zealand's small businesses and especially the legal profession pretty hard right now. It is probably only a matter of time before scammers start targeting real estate companies transferring deposits. This type of fraud happens via hacked email accounts, which are used to resend duplicate invoices that look just like the real thing. Be aware: Don't trust last minute changes to bank account numbers and make sure your processes don't let lapses of concentration put your business out of pocket. You can read more on the New Zealand Internet Task Force website.
- New Supervision Standard: A revised draft standard which incorporates feedback from the consultation late last year is being presented to the REAA Board in March. It will subsequently be published for a further round of consultation.
- Tell us what you think: Finally, we are keen to know what you think of these newsletters and how we can make them more useful for you. We know that 40% of you are reading this on a phone and that the most popular link is the decisions. We'd love to know more. Here's a link to an anonymous survey that will take just a few minutes to complete.
As always, we welcome your comments and feedback. Feel free to email me.
Kevin Lampen-Smith
Chief Executive Officer/Registrar |
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Five steps to resolving complaints
In the December newsletter, we wrote about our Early Resolution team. The team manages issues that come to REAA and they seek to resolve complaints that don't need to be referred to a Complaints Assessment Committee. In this newsletter we'll talk about an earlier step in the process which could mean REAA doesn't need to be involved at all. |
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Balancing obligations between clients and purchasers
As a real estate licensee, your primary fiduciary obligation is to your client and you must follow their lawful instructions. However, there will be situations when you have an overriding disclosure obligation to a buyer, and this may give rise to conflicting duties. |
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Buying a client's property - what you need to know
The Real Estate Agents Act 2008 prohibits a real estate licensee, agency or related person from buying a property the licensee or agency has been engaged to sell, unless the client has given consent on the prescribed form, Form 2, and has been provided with a valuation (section 134). |
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Laws and rules all licensees should know
In addition to the Real Estate Agents Act and its associated Regulations, there are a number of laws and rules that you must comply with when carrying out real estate agency work. This article sets out some of the laws to be aware of. |
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