Real estate watchdog fields 320 complaints in first 5 months

The newly formed Real Estate Agents Authority is receiving more than two complaints a day, on average.

In its first five months, the authority has received more than 320 complaints.

It has also fielded over 17,000 phone and email inquiries.

"These complaints come from both consumers and licensees and range from minor through to serious," said the authority's chairwoman, lawyer Kristy McDonald, QC.

"In the bulk of the complaints that are coming in, the allegations related to misrepresentation or non-disclosure," she said yesterday.

The authority was operating under new legislation which meant processing complaints took time to ensure each was properly investigated, she said.

"It was difficult for us to predict the number of complaints we would receive accurately, given there was no data available about complaints made under the 1976 act.

"The large number of complaints received since implementation of the new act is significant and highlights there was a need for this new legislation with its consumer protection focus."

But the Real Estate Institute's president, Peter McDonald, said 320 was a small number of complaints, considering that in the five-month period the industry would have been involved in some 30,000 property transactions.

"That's about 1 per cent of the transactions in that period. It's a small percentage of the number of sales."

When a complaint is received it goes to a complaints assessment committee (CAC), comprised of two authority board members and a lawyer. If the committee finds a complaint is valid, it has a range of powers from censuring an individual through to fining them up to $10,000 (or $20,000 for a company).

If the offence is deemed serious it can be sent to the Real Estate Agents' Disciplinary Tribunal which can cancel an agent's licence, ban them from working for an agency, impose a fine of up to $15,000 (or $30,000 for a company) or order a compensation payment of up to $100,000 to the complainant.

Eleven cases so far have been to a CAC. One has been referred to the tribunal, eight were dismissed, one is pending a penalty decision and one - the case of an agent who sent a condolence card with an attached house valuation to a widow - resulted in a censure.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA