In-house Complaints and Dispute Resolution

In accordance with Rule 12 of the Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care Rules) 2012, Commercial Realty Ltd has outlined below the in-house complaints and dispute resolution procedure.

We have designed this to be a clear and simple process for you, as a client, prospective client, or customer, to register a formal complaint and/or dispute based on the services you have experienced by our real estate agency.

• Step 1: Contact our manager (contact may be made via phone or in writing) and advise them who it is you wish to make a complaint and/or dispute about, and the grounds for the complaint and/or dispute. Advise the manager of the action you would like to be taken.
• Step 2: The manager may ask you to put your complaint in writing (if you have not already done so) so that they have a record of the client’s, prospective client’s, or customer’s version of events that resulted in the complaint and/or dispute being made. The manager will need to investigate the complaint and/or dispute to gather as much information as possible, and discuss with the team member(s) involved. The manager will contact you within 10 working days acknowledging your complaint and/or dispute. As part of that response, if necessary the manager may request a meeting with you and the team member(s) involved to discuss the complaint and/or dispute and seek to reach a resolution together.
• Step 3: If an agreed resolution has not been reached following the initial communication from the manager, and where necessary a subsequent meeting, or if you do not wish to meet with the manager, then the manager will provide you with a written proposal to try to resolve your complaint and/or dispute.
• Step 4: If you do not accept our proposal, please advise us within five working days. In this scenario we encourage you to propose alternative solutions to help resolve the complaint and/or dispute efficiently.
• Step 5: If Commercial Realty accepts your proposal we will advise you in writing and implement the resolution as quickly as possible. If Commercial Realty declines your offer, we may invite you to mediate the dispute or propose an alternative solution to what has already been discussed.
• Step 6: If Commercial Realty agrees to mediate the complaint and/or dispute, but do not settle the complaint during mediation, or if we do not agree to mediate the dispute, this is the end of our in-house complaints and dispute resolution process. Under these circumstances if you wish to proceed with the complaint and/or dispute you will need to register this with the Real Estate Agents Authority.

Please note you can make a complaint to the Real Estate Agents Authority (REA) at any time. Initiating an in-house complaint or dispute resolution process does not in any way preclude your right to contact the REA directly.

The REA can be contacted at the following address: The Real Estate Authority, c/-PO Box 25 – 371, Wellington, 6146 or by phone on 0800 367 7322.