KEY POINTS:
So many complaints are expected to be made against real estate agents under a proposed new law that a parliamentary committee has recommended expanding the system to cope.
The justice and electoral select committee, which heard submissions on sweeping real estate reform, has stressed the need to broaden the new system to deal effectively with consumer complaints against agents.
The Real Estate Institute fields about 200 complaints and inquiries each month and Consumer NZ also gets complaints, the committee said.
"We are concerned that the introduction of a new complaints and disciplinary regime might prompt a surge in the number of complaints received, possibly resulting in a bottleneck," said the committee, chaired by Labour Waitakere MP Lynne Pillay.
So the new complaints authority should be given power to appoint as many complaints assessment committees around New Zealand as it considered necessary.
The committee refused to alter key proposals, despite an outcry from the institute, which organised a mailout campaign to encourage as many of the country's 16,000 agents as possible to oppose the overhaul.
The committee has altered some parts of the proposed law but a spokesman for Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove said these just served to strengthen and clarify parts of the proposed reform.
Consumer interests would be protected and the new law would be better as a result of the changes, the spokesman said yesterday.
The bill strips the institute of its current regulatory powers and compulsory membership for licensed real estate agents.
Members mounted a massive campaign to fight Mr Cosgrove and retain their authority, hiring top constitutional lawyer Mai Chen to lead their challenge.
But the select committee has not buckled on the major issues and endorsed the move to usher in a new, independent and transparent complaints system aimed at strengthening consumer rights.
The committee has recommended a one-year transitional period if the bill becomes law, rejecting a proposal to bring it into force immediately.
It has also recommended a review of excluding property managers from the law, a point the institute lobbied for. Mr Cosgrove's spokesman said the minister would agree to review that part, in the light of submissions concerned about the risks to landlords.
But the committee rejected concern about membership becoming optional and threatening statistical information gathering.
The institute releases monthly sales data but bill opponents claimed this would be threatened. The committee said Quotable Value and other sources also gathered housing data so it was not concerned about the issue.
But it does want industry representation on the new Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal, saying appointing one agency licensee will give the new body sufficient experience and knowledge to carry out its functions.
It also supported a move to establish a new "bidders' record" at auction. This would guarantee that only genuine bids were accepted.
The new organisation should be able to spark an inquiry against an agent without a complaint from a consumer, the committee said.
Its members were Chris Auchinvole, Charles Chauvel, Christopher Finlayson, Hone Harawira, Ann Hartley, Nandor Tanczos, Nicky Wagner and Louisa Wall. The bill is due for a second reading this month and its third reading next month.
Yesterday, the Real Estate Institute urged members to make their views known before the bill became law.
"We ask that you forward your comments to any of your councillors, regional offices or to the national office, as soon as possible but at the latest by Friday."
CHANGES RECOMMENDED
* Property managers might be included.
* New regime to be phased in over a year.
* Expand the system to defuse bottlenecks.
* Appoint an agency licensee to new tribunal.
* New body to spark inquiries without a complaint.
