PHOTO: The Government wants to be able to award damages up to 100-thousand dollars for an agent’s unsatisfactory misconduct. (Photo/ NZ Herald)
Awarding up to $100,000 in damages to victims of a real estate agent’s poor behaviour would be taking a sledgehammer to something that isn’t broken, real estate agents say.
Parliament is considering the Courts Matters & Tribunals Powers and Procedures Legislation Bill, which includes a raft of proposals to make the courts and tribunal systems more efficient.
One of the proposals is to revamp the system for lodging complaints against real estate agents, which currently distinguishes between lower level behaviour and higher level professional misconduct. The latter is considered by the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal, the former by a complaints assessment committee.
The committee can censure an agent in a range of ways, including ordering an apology and further training, and fining an agent $10,000, or a company $20,000.
REGISTER FOR OUR ENEWSLETTER NOW
READ MORE VIA NEWSTALKZB