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At last we have been heard!

For over 10 years to my certain knowledge, we have been trying to get the Act which governs our industry up dated.
The level of fines is very low and grumblings from politicians over the years about the low level of fines, and the very pedantic process to get to that stage, have annoyed the 99% of REINZ members who get tarred with the same brush as the villians.
However, at last we get a chance to get things changed!
We have two main concerns about the Government's plan, firstly the attempt to remove all property management activities outside the Act, and to change the status of salespeople from being Independant Contractors to employees.

The idea that there is no need for controls or licensing in Residential Property Management is, frankly, sheer madness! The theory being that the sums of money are so minor that there is no risk to the public,
I can tell you that The REINZ have reacted very heavily to that bit of nonsense in their submission and spelt out the truth which the government is totally unware of.
For example I know of an unlicensed property management office in Wellington with over 400 properties under management and the average rent is $280 a week, which means that about a half a million dollars a month is washing through their trust account without any audit or insurance, and if an owner is unhappy with the service or want to make a complaint, who are they going call?
All REINZ property managers are licensed every year by the Licensing Board, chaired by a crown appointed Judge who does take police checks on all members.
There is no rational for de-licensing this industry and in fact it needs to be extended so that everyone in property management should fall under the licensing regime.

The second gripe from my point of view is the idea to remove the independent contractor status of salespeople on the grounds that they are being denied normal protection enjoyed by all other employees. The reality is that salespeople come into this business because they can be independent contractors, run, in effect their own affairs, and reap the rewards of hard work If they fail to make it then they quit. Very simple and very easy to understand.
We are in favour of tougher penalties and keen to rid this industry of scalliwags.
Richard Evans

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