\nA new law that comes into effect next month in New Zealand will prevent real estate agents from siphoning off discounts related to selling a client\u2019s property.\n<\/p>\n
\nAgencies throughout the country will be obliged to comply with the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 from November 17 which means revealing to vendors the various discounts, rebates and commissions they receive from suppliers such as printers, sign-makers and advertisers.\n<\/p>\n
\nAgents usually take out bulk business with such firms, but until now the deals have been secret and vendors are in the dark about whether discounts given to the agent are passed on to them.\n<\/p>\n
\nBut although the law demands disclosure, it does not demand that the discounts should be passed on.\n<\/p>\n
\nMany in the industry believe that they should be unless the agent has specific authority to keep them.\n<\/p>\n
\nChair of the new Real Estate Agents Authority which is responsible for regulation, Kirsty McDonald, said that disclosure will make the industry more transparent.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u2018Examples could include the agent getting a discount on the cost of advertising from a newspaper, or the agent receiving commission from a home staging service for referring clients.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn all cases, the agent will be required to attach a simple form to the agency agreement detailing any rebate, discount or commission received,\u2019 she explained.\n<\/p>\n
\nBut the law is not crystal clear according to Bayleys Real Estate, one of the largest firms in the country.\n<\/p>\n
\nManaging director Mike Bayley described it as ambiguous, especially the definition of \u2018rebates, discounts or commissions\u2019.\n<\/p>\n
\nHis view is that the requirement relates only to the relationship between the agent and the vendor or purchaser, and not to third parties such as sign-makers or newspapers.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u2018Our interpretation is that sales consultants have to be impartial and transparent in their transactions with all parties and we support this.\n<\/p>\n
\nOur scale of charges is transparent right from the very first meeting with a client and all marketing costs are clearly set out when the sales consultants present their business plans to the vendor at the outset of any campaign,\u2019 he said.\n<\/p>\n
\nBarfoot & Thompson director Peter Thompson says his firm is seeking clarification from the Real Estate Agents Authority on what exactly has to be disclosed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nA new law that comes into effect next month in New Zealand will prevent real estate agents from siphoning off discounts related to selling a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"persona":[],"class_list":["post-3103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n