A recent decision by the real estate agents disputes tribunal has left real estate agents and lawyers re-examining responsibilities on a sale. A purchaser looked for and thought they had found a property that was a house and income unit. The property had a separate one-bedroom flat and was marketed by the agent as a…
DetailsI once heard a story about a property developer who purchased a property for residential redevelopment. Integral to the due diligence investigations was a LIM which clearly identified the location of services. Services were in a convenient position to enable redevelopment and the developer in our story proceeded in reliance on the Council records he had…
DetailsThe Property Council New Zealand recently released its manifesto Fast Forward to Growth. It is easy to read, focused on commercial property and aimed at encouraging growth, productivity and investment. Key points it advocates include: • A national policy on development contributions. • Development contributions assessed to reflect the benefits achieved by the development. • Giving developers the…
DetailsThe right of a lessee under a commercial lease to quiet enjoyment is implied in the majority of leases. The implied covenant is a limited guarantee that the lessee can occupy the premises without interruption or disturbance from the lessor, or persons through whom the lessor derives title or persons who claim through the lessor. …
DetailsThe Unit Titles Act 2010 has been in force for over 8 months now. Most bodies corporate have had their first AGM under the new Act and made the necessary decisions. The next key date is 1 October 2012. By this date: new body corporate rules are needed final decisions are needed on responsibilities for…
DetailsThe Unit Titles Act 2010 has been in force for over 8 months now. Most bodies corporate have had their first AGM under the new Act and made the necessary decisions. The next key date is 1 October 2012. By this date: new body corporate rules are needed final decisions are needed on responsibilities for…
DetailsRight at the end of last year, a High Court judgement was released for the first prosecution under section 141 of the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. That is the section that prohibits a person who is not licenced under the act from carrying out real estate agency work. The section came into force on…
DetailsAt this time of year with Christmas trading and summer there may be lessors who are approached by lessees requesting a change to their trading hours. Leaving aside resource management restrictions, retail leases commonly give the lessor an unqualified right to approve any modification in trading hours. Further these retail leases tend to include a "keep open" covenant. …
DetailsIf you become tempted to purchase a bach over the Christmas period (as a certain partner of ours did one year) then an agreement on an envelope will certainly be legally enforceable if done properly. Debra bought her family bach by recording an agreement on an envelope that included adoption of the standard ADLS/REINZ terms…
DetailsThrough the Christmas period what “working days” means will depend upon what your contract or the relevant legislation says. As a general rule statutory holidays and weekends are not “working days”. Beware though, some contracts and legislation refer only to “days” (and weeks or months). When that happens those days where we are all celebrating the…
DetailsThe new Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act comes into force in March 2012. Under the new Act, insurers will need a licence from the Reserve Bank to continue in the insurance business. The licensing application involves satisfying the Reserve Bank that the insurer has the appropriate risk management, governance and capital necessary to continue in the…
DetailsIn an auction you generally accept the vendor’s title, warts and all. In a recent contract I reviewed that meant there were obligations imposed on the purchaser to pay to have stormwater and sewerage systems inspected annually and covenants limiting what colour the house could be painted. There are all sorts of things that might be…
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