IS THE REAL ESTATE AGENT STILL A MEMBER OF THE REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE? HERE ARE SOME REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHECK THAT OUT, WHETHER YOU ARE A SELLER OR A BUYER
If you are thinking of buying or selling your property be aware that not all agents are members of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (“REINZ”) which requires its members to follow the REINZ Codes of Practice. They are still subject to the disciplinary process of the Real Estate Agents Authority, an independent government regulatory body, but are not bound by the ethical principles of the Institute’s Code of Individual Membership.
Even more important, an agent which is not a member of the REINZ may not be using the standard REINZ/ADLSi Agreement for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate which is the preferred form of agreement for use in buying and selling property throughout New Zealand for over 20 years. Property lawyers are familiar with the standard general terms of this agreement and understand the effects of its clauses as there has been much litigation and numerous texts written on this agreement.
If your agent is not using the standard REINZ/ADLSi Agreement, you are likely to experience greater uncertainty on your legal position as your agreement will not have been tested through the Courts as to fine distinctions in interpretation of the clauses. The result is that there will be an increase in legal fees due to the unfamiliarity with the form of your agreement or the effect of its clauses.
We recommend that before you sign anything you ask your agent to confirm whether or not they and their agency are members of the REINZ and more importantly that the form of agreement for sale and purchase that will be used in the transaction is the REINZ/ADLSi form.
If your agent is not using the standard form REINZ/ADLSi Agreement, contact us and we can either send to you the REINZ/ADLSi Agreement to hand to your agent to complete (that is what they are paid for) or our experienced property lawyers can prepare a REINZ/ADLSi Agreement for you on terms and conditions that will suit your requirements.
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