Real estate agents dob each other in

PROPERTY WARS: Real estate agents are dobbing in their colleagues for offences including poaching clients and assault after the Government put the heat on the industry to clean up its act.

Opinion poll

Do you trust real estate agents?

Yes - their job depends on their reputation

No - they are looking out for themselves

Maybe - it depends on the individual

Vote Result

Relevant offers

Real estate agents are dobbing in their colleagues for offences including poaching clients and assault after the Government put the heat on the industry to clean up its act.

About two complaints lodged with the Real Estate Agents Authority each week have come from agents, with 13 per cent of total complaints coming from within the industry since the agency opened in November.

By July 13, the authority had received 466 complaints. The authority was launched as part of a shake-up and amid concerns the previous self-governing system was providing a feeding ground for "land sharks". Under the new rules, agents are required to report any misconduct, or face discipline themselves.

Authority chairwoman Kristy McDonald, QC, said it was up to agents to make sure the industry was performing properly.

She would not comment on the individual complaints before the authority, but said they included commission disputes, claims of poaching, inappropriate use of a client's property, and assault.

The authority was established under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008, which was instigated by Clayton Cosgrove, as associate justice minister under the former Labour government.

The seriousness of the complaints was a sign the industry wanted to get rid of agents who "acted like land sharks", he said.

Agents had welcomed the authority, and its independence meant spurious claims – where agents wanted to cut out the competition – would be dismissed. "There was a large amount of relief for the good real estate folk that suddenly their integrity ... was going to be protected."

The industry had previously self-regulated through the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

Institute board member Bryan Thomson said agents were taking their responsibility under the new legislation seriously.

The institute did not have figures to compare the level of industry-generated complaints, but many were likely to be disputes that could be better handled through mediation, he said.

The authority has received a deluge of complaints since its launch, but Ms McDonald denied reports the budget had been blown by the "significantly higher than anticipated" number of complaints.

But, if complaints continued at the same level, "the authority will review how it will manage the complaints and associated investigation processes in future years", she said.

Mr Thomson believed the number of complaints would settle down in the next few months. It was likely many people were relitigating complaints already heard by the institute, because the new system offered financial compensation.

- © Fairfax NZ News