In The Know
11 December 2019
Click the headings below to read more or visit the Property Management page
Thank you to everyone who was a part of the 2019 REINZ | Real Women In Real Estate Cocktail Evening
For 2020 REINZ event dates and details as they are confirmed, click here.
December Statistics returns
REINZ will be closing off the December 2019 return at midday on Friday 10 January 2020 at the absolute latest. We would appreciate it if you could have your data in prior to 10 January as it will enable us to hit our deadline.
If you are closing over the festive break and not reopening until after 10 January 2020, we would appreciate it if you could load your sales data before your office closes.
REINZ Office Christmas closure
The REINZ Head office will be closing from Friday 20 December 2019 and will re-open on Monday 6 January 2020.
If you still need to complete your 2019 Verifiable Training, please click here.
10th Edition Agreement for Sale and Purchase
Agreements within eForms have now been updated to the 10th Edition. You should not be creating any new agreements using the old 9th Edition form.
A highlighted version of the 10th Edition showing the changes is now available to further help with understanding the changes.
We encourage all members to view the free webinars below that outline the key changes.
Please Note: The auction and tender forms will also be updated. We will alert you to the release date for these forms as soon as it is confirmed by Auckland District Law Society (likely to be Feb/March 2020).
FREE WEBINAR: 10th Edition Agreement for Sale & Purchase: Key changes for real estate agents
FREE WEBINAR: 10th Edition Agreement for Sale & Purchase: GST changes
For more information, please contact Lisa Gerrard, REINZ Chief Legal Officer
New Sale and Purchase Agreement!
We are pleased to announce that a new edition of the REINZ/ADLS Agreement for Sale and Purchase has been released as of 6 December 2019 via eforms. The new edition (Edition 10) has taken 18 months to prepare, following feedback from our industry and legal experts. The changes bring the Agreement up to date with current laws and include a number of significant and useful changes that licensees need to be aware of, including:
- Changes to the finance condition, requiring purchasers to provide evidence if they can’t raise finance
- A toxicology report condition has been included in the general terms
- A detailed process to resolve compensation disputes between vendors and purchasers has been added
- 'Fixtures' and ‘chattels’ have been removed and replaced with new definitions and warranties
- The GST clauses have been revised
- The timeframe in which deposits may be released has been clarified
- References to fax machines have been removed
- Various other changes to language and formatting.
A marked up copy with all the changes is now available here.
REINZ has released two free webinars explaining the changes and we strongly urge agencies to ensure that licensees have viewed these webinars before the new form is released. Webinar details are as follows:
-
10th Edition: Key Changes for Real Estate Agents (45 mins)
Lisa Gerrard, REINZ -
GST Changes (30 mins)
Allan Bullot, Deloitte
Click here to register for the Key changes webinar
Click here to register for the GST changes webinar
Case Update: Licensees fail to adequately manage confidential information
What happened?
- This complaint related to a commercial leasehold property (the Property). Prior to August 2017, the Property was owned by Company A, as Trustee of Trust A (the Trust)
- The vendor was the sole director of Company A. Licensee 1 and 2 marketed the property via a tender process
- Licensee 1 suggested that the vendor pre-sign an agreed confidentiality agreement to quicken the release of confidential information to interested parties
- The Licensees provided the vendor with four, weekly marketing reports. The vendor entered into an unconditional Agreement for Sale and Purchase (ASP) with Company B
- Two weeks later, Company B nominated Company C, the owner of the underlying freehold land and lessor of the ground lease, as purchaser of the Property. Company C paid the deposit
- The vendor claimed that prior to her entering into the ASP, both Licensees were aware of Company C’s interest as ultimate purchaser.
What did the Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) find?
The CAC did not find that the two Licensees had known that Company B was potentially acting for Company C before the ASP was signed. The representative of Company B also stated that he did not tell the Agency that he was acting for Company C.
Confidentiality
The CAC found that the Licensees failed to report on Company B’s interest in the property, who had become the successful tenderer and who later nominated Company C, in the final week of marketing (week 4), when this information was known in week 3.
The CAC found that the Licensees failed to report to the vendor that Company C had signed a confidentiality agreement which meant commercially sensitive information had been released to them.
The CAC also found that the Licensees released confidential information to the representative of Company B, in reliance of an unsigned confidentiality agreement.
Deposit
After becoming aware of Company C’s nomination, the vendor asked Licensee 1 for a copy of the email, confirming payment of the deposit. Licensee 1 stated that the email was confidential and that he could not release it.
The CAC found that the email was not confidential and that the email confirming satisfaction belonged to the Trust and that the Licensee had acted in the purchaser’s interest over the Trust’s.
The CAC also found that the Licensee failed to place the email confirmation on the transaction file.
Refund
The Licensees failed to refund partial marketing costs as agreed between them and the vendor.
Supervising Agent
The CAC found that the supervising agent failed to conduct a thorough and adequate investigation in relation to documentation of the deposit.
Statement of Account
The supervising agent sent a screenshot of the Agency’s trust account ledger to the vendor upon request, which recorded that the deposit payment had been received from Company C. The CAC considered that the screenshot did not meet the requirements of section 124 of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 as it was not an account in writing setting out the particulars of the deposit money and its application.
Finding
A finding of unsatisfactory conduct was found.
It should be noted that the CAC stated that the Licensees did not have an obligation to ask Company B’s representative, who they were acting for.
Tips:
- Agents should be keeping their client informed on any pertinent updates during the sales process especially, in relation to confidentiality agreements
- Ensure all documents that require signatures are signed
- Ensure that section 124 of the Act is complied with.
Working days over Christmas
For the purposes of the REINZ/ADLS Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate, ‘working days’ over the Christmas break do not include any day beginning from Tuesday 24 December and ending on Friday 3 January (inclusive). The first working day is Monday 6 January. This is in clause 1.1 (37)(c) of the sale and purchase agreement.
The exception to the above is the calculation of the 15 working days approval period for the LIM report under clause 9.3 (2). In that case, ‘working days’ does not include any day beginning from 24 December and ending on 15 January (both days inclusive).’
Unsure about something? Head to Advisory Resources on our website
Advisory Resources is a virtual library that provides members with a variety of information, best practice guides and templates to assist with the compliance and legal aspects of real estate.
You can find help on various topics such as:
Click here to access Advisory Resources
Feel free to direct any compliance related questions you have to advisory@reinz.co.nz
- Agency Agreements
- Anti-Money Laundering
- Advertising and Marketing
- Auctions
- Conjunctional Arrangements
- Disclosure
- Overseas Investment Act
- Privacy
- Tenders
National Certificate in Real Estate (Branch Manager) and National Diploma in Real Estate (Agent)
REINZ and Skills have been in on-going discussions with NZQA to extend the end date of the current National Certificate in Real Estate (Branch Manager) and National Diploma in Real Estate (Agent). We have made significant progress and are delighted to announce the qualification end dates have been extended to 31 December 2021.
This means that a New Zealand qualification pathway continues to exist for these licence classes.
Contact Kirstin Brown, REINZ Education Director, for further information.
Health & Wellbeing Survey - closes this Friday!
We would appreciate your views on this important area.
In July we surveyed our members on general aspects of health, wellbeing and workplace performance. Based on general findings we identified a significant number of people were concerned about work/life balance and stress in the workplace. REINZ is currently developing a 6-month programme to help address these, alongside other wellbeing issues, so that you can optimise your performance in 2020.
We need your feedback to help shed more light on the issues identified in our earlier survey and to help shape our new 6-month programme. We’d appreciate you taking some time to complete our survey. You’ll also go into the draw to win a $150 Prezzy Card.
Click here to complete the survey.
Non-Verifiable Webinar Packages
REINZ is pleased to have launched 4 brand-new non-verifiable webinar packages. These have a great variety of topics and speakers and are an excellent way of completing your CPD hours before the year is over.
Click here for more information
Anti-Money Laundering online verifiable training
There are no exemptions from this topic in 2019 so make sure you complete this by 31 December 2019.
2020 REINZ Events
Check the REINZ Events Portal for 2020 event dates and details as they are confirmed.
Friday 6 March, Royal Akarana Yacht Club
Save the date
Commercial & Industrial Breakfast - Wednesday 25 March, Ostro Brasserie and Bar, Auckland
Residential Property Management Conference - Friday 7 August, Pullman Auckland
Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner - Tuesday 1 September, Cordis Auckland
2019 REINZ Statistics Enhancements
As part of our goal to improve your experience with the REINZ Statistics Platform, we have recently delivered a number of enhancements, with more to be released soon:
- Create Report - improved content to help navigation
- Market Insights Report - updated content
- Data Return - Residential Investment Block Filter now live
- Map Search - Updated "Add to report" button
- Classic Search - Table View - create a property details report more easily
- New User Guide now available in the platform.
Your opinion matters: The list of changes and enhancements for 2020 will be based on your feedback, feel free to share your suggestions here.
2020 forecast: Growing confidence in housing market will boost prices
When looking forward, it always pays to understand the road where you’ve come from, and a quick look back over the last year shows us that a lot has happened that is likely to shape the property market in the coming 12 to 18 months.
On the blog: Balancing work and life
While many agents report that they love their job, there is one common complaint: the hours. Simply put, most agents are now working 6-7 days a week and must be available nearly any time of the day to meet the needs of their clients.
Member Benefits Special - Torpedo 7
Torpedo 7 is offering REINZ Members an online discount on selected apparel lines and instore discount on all categories.
REINZ works in partnership with NetYourJob recruitment to provide maximum industry coverage when you’re looking for real estate staff. NetYourJob can provide REINZ Members with competitive marketing rates for job advertising. Contact NetYourJob on 0800 638 968 to find out more or click here to view new jobs this week.
