Real estate industry faces new regulations and procedures
Important legislative changes that will affect agents, vendors and buyers have been introduced to the real estate industry.
The intentions of the newly introduced Real Estate Agents Act 2008 are to provide greater protection for consumers and to promote public confidence in the real estate industry. For the industry, the changes introduce new responsibilities for licensees, including full disclosure of information to consumers, as well as overhauled complaint and disciplinary processes.
First National licence holder Nick Hodgkinson and Harcourts shareholder/owner Nikki Ryan welcome the new legislation. They agree that the changes are a positive move to ensure high standard of service and professionalism in the industry.
Nikki expects the new measures to engender trust by educating the public and creating more transparent processes.
“It’s great, the new Act - it needed to be done,” she says. “The rules were too grey and the fines too small for something as important as someone’s biggest asset changing hands. The public will hopefully perceive this as bringing more honesty into the industry. For the buyer, the changes will hopefully give them more confidence when purchasing a property and the vendor will feel more confident and trusting with the process of selling.”
The new Act also aims to set appropriate standards for continuing education for licensees and updating current knowledge, thus maintaining and improving standards of practice.
Consumer guides have been put together to inform those buying and selling property.
Unsurprisingly, the paperwork accompanying the changes has increased, too. Nick Hodgkinson says there is more work than in the past, “when you basically agreed on a price and shook hands. These days, the seller and the agent are legally required to complete a disclosure form. Hopefully it will bring into the open everything the seller should know about a property and reign in those real estate agents who have been a bit unscrupulous in the past.
“The qualifications have also been lifted for people wanting to become real estate agents and it’s good for the industry to have a bit of a shakeup. Professional people will always make the system work and run with it, but those on the fringe may not survive,” said Nick.
Alongside the legislative changes, a new Real Estate Agents Authority was also established at the end of last year.
This takes over from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealandas the industry’s regulatory body, and will be responsible for licensing, complaints, disciplinary action, industry standards, and providing information for consumers.
Consumers dissatisfied with the way a licensee has behaved or performed can now access a complaints process via Complaints Assessment Committees (CAC).
If a CAC finds a licensee guilty of unsatisfactory conduct, it can impose conditions such as the re-education of the licensee and/or fines of up to $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for a company.
An independent Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal, set up to deal with serious cases, will have the ability to order the cancellation of licences and award up to $100,000 in compensation.
Ina Holst
