Generated on: 2025-03-28 14:57:54
CONFIRMED MINUTES
REA BOARD STRATEGY MEETING - FEBRUARY
2025
At the
REA Board Meeting - March 2025 on
27 Mar 2025 these minutes were
confirmed as
presented.
Name:
Real Estate Authority
Date:
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Time:
9:00 am to 12:00 pm (NZDT)
Location:
REA Office , REA Office (Teams option)
Board Members: Denese Bates KC (Chair), Brooke Loader, Latham Lockwood, Liz Nidd, Mele
Wendt, Shirley McLeod, Tony Stack, Vern Walsh
Attendees:
Belinda Moffat, Andrew Tringham, Victor Eng, Andrew Bulled, Josh Doherty,
Katie Solomon, Marie Snell, Saara Fourie
1.
Board and CE Time
1.1
Board in Committee
The Board agreed on matters for discussion.
1.2
Board and CE Alone Time
The Board and CE discussed matters arising, including:
• An overview of the CE and Board Chair’s meeting with the Minister on 18 February.
• Examples of issues arising in sector regarding supervision, complaint resolution, online real
estate services
• Whether commission and how it is managed between licensees needs further consideration.
2.
REA Board Strategy Session
2.1
Karakia, Confirm Agenda and Confirm Minutes from
December Strategy Meeting
REA Board Strategy Meeting December 2024 3 Dec 2024, the minutes were confirmed as
presented.
SLT joined at 9.58am and the meeting was opened with a Karakia.
The Board Chair provided a confidential update on Board appointment/ reappointment process.
Powered by
BoardPro
1
Minutes : REA Board Strategy Meeting - February 2025 - 19 Feb 2025
2.2
Board Roundtable
The Board shared their initial views of the board pack prompted by the questions posed in the
Setting the Scene paper (pg. 15 of the strategy session pack).
Board and SLT comments included:
• Change in Board Paper sequencing in main Board pack: the CE Report is a crucial report
for the Board and the preference is for it to be discussed early in meetings and appear at
the beginning of the pack.
• The Board agreed to put the CE Report early in the meeting packs but noted strategic
discussion/decision papers may be prioritised for discussion earlier in meetings.
• The Board confirmed the December Strategy minutes captured the strategic discussion
well.
• The Board’s preference is to get straight into the deep dive topics at meetings.
• Papers were of a very high standard.
• The Board expressed pride in the organisation and the way REA is making a difference
and taking steps to address the rise in complaints. Noted that Board cannot contribute at
operational level and needs to keep focus at governance level.
• The Board agreed to see how this agenda works for the next Board meeting and based on
feedback from that meeting, determine the agenda layout for future meetings.
• The Board noted concern that there are less resolution matters and sought comfort that
serious complaints are not at risk of being closed using s74 triage powers. Head of
Regulatory Services noted that resolution is still available and promoted, but many parties
seek CAC determinations. All complaints are assessed for seriousness, before progressing
to the CARR team.
23) RST team to provide pre-CAC resolutions data to the Board
RST team to provide pre-CAC resolutions data to the Board
Due Date:
31 Mar 2025
Owner:
2.3
Our Operating Context
The Head of EIE and Programme Manager introduced this item and the Board was asked to
discuss and identify any risks and issues to be added to or removed from our internal and
operating context, for discussion in the Statement of Performance Expectations.
The Board discussed the following:
External influence
• Points 6 and 11 on pg. 19 were raised for discussion (affordability and economic
pressures, and diversity of needs of buyers and sellers). It was noted that affordability
remains an issue and people are finding the economic conditions tough.
• Concerns were raised around increased racism, anti-LQBTQI+ sentiments and biased
opinions and ideologies in the community. Overseas conflict and political influences are
also impacting New Zealanders’ overall perceptions and behaviours.
• A recent discrimination example was discussed and it was noted the people involved would
be provided with information about our complaints process.
• The Board agreed discrimination is unacceptable in society, and REA must continue to be
courageous in this space, supporting licensees to navigate a challenging environment and
to rise above ideologies and treat all people fairly. New Zealand has a history of being
courageous and making a stand in order to do what is right. Being courageous is one of
Powered by
BoardPro
2
Minutes : REA Board Strategy Meeting - February 2025 - 19 Feb 2025
our core values and REA has demonstrated courage on many fronts, with our mandatory
CPD topics being an example.
• REA needs to hold fast to its values and the role it has for dealing with conduct that is not
acceptable.
• Code of Conduct principles were discussed and treating people fairly is the cornerstone of
real estate work. There is still unconscious bias in the real estate industry. The sector will
need to treat all people fairly if it wants to have public trust and confidence.
• Mystery shoppers: consider getting some experiences from the coal face at open homes
and communicating that this is happening to licensees.
• A question was proposed for discussion with industry leaders at RELF: how do you know
that your salespeople are treating buyers and sellers fairly?
• The Diversity & Inclusion series topics are on BoardPro and they are valuable resources.
The Dealing with People Fairly CPD topic (the second in the three-part series) addresses
unconscious bias and the importance of being anti-discriminatory. It is all about growth and
understanding the importance of fair treatment.
• The Board discussed producing a one-page document on the Code of Conduct and what
consumers can expect from licensees. Also consider messaging in the industry Pānui and
how this is conveyed in the SPE.
27) Code of Conduct one-page summary
Code of Conduct: prepare a one-page summary of Code of Conduct and what
conduct consumers can expect from licensees.
Due Date:
30 Apr 2025
Owners:
2.4
Priorities and Measures for 2025-2026
The Chief Executive introduced this paper and the Board was asked to discuss and provide
feedback on the proposed priorities under each output area and the proposed amendments to the
measures.
Board feedback included:
• Measure 2.7: reducing the target from 90% to 70% was not initially supported as this is a
drastic reduction. This measure historically included all complaints and what we are trying
to do is separate out CAC complaints from pre-CAC complaints. If making this change,
there is a need to look at the forecast 2023/24 and actual 2022/23 columns as well, as
these will not be a fair comparison if they reflect all complaints in previous years
(comparing apples and oranges).
• Consider why we would not want to retain an ‘all complaints’ measure in addition. The
Chief Executive advised that by measuring all cases, we are not seeing the benefits of
those pre-CAC cases that are dealt with within three months when averaged with total
figures.
• The Board sought clarification on why 90% completion within a year is not achievable. The
Chief Executive highlighted that these cases are usually more serious in nature and often
complex e.g. there can be multiple parties with complex evidence to be obtained, potential
forensic accountant involvement, and the need to write detailed decisions. For CACs
cases, they are currently sitting well below 70% now and 90% is not likely an achievable
target.
• The Board asked whether we could add a quantitative measure around these complex
cases as detailed above. The Head of Regulatory Services advised that we can
retrospectively measure the number of complex cases, but we cannot predict how many
we expect to get.
Powered by
BoardPro
3
Minutes : REA Board Strategy Meeting - February 2025 - 19 Feb 2025
• It was noted that around 20% of CAC cases are currently completed in a year.
• If there is a small number of complex cases, the 70% does not look as unreasonable but
with the knowledge that around 20% of CAC cases are completed within a year, the 70%
seems like a more reasonable target.
• It was acknowledged that the Regulatory Services Team has consistently worked hard to
try and improve complaints timeliness. The data indicates it may not be possible within the
existing framework, particularly with CAC cases taking so long. While legislative change
would be required, this needs to be addressed to see meaningful change.
• The next iteration of the SPE will be presented to ARC on 17 March and then to the Board
on 27 March.
• The Board’s feedback was noted and the Board agreed to further analysis of complaints
data before presenting the recommended measures again in March.
12) Complaint completion SPE Targets
Give further consideration to complaint completion targets to present to the
Board in March.
Due Date:
27 Mar 2025
Owners:
Belinda Moffat,
2.5
Morning Tea
3.
Deep Dive: Improvements to the Complaints System
3.1
Deep Dive: Improvements to the Complaints System
The Head of RST took the paper as read. The Board was asked to discuss the options to improve
the complaints system, consider the benefits and implications, and provide direction on the
approach to manage volumes and improve process. The Head of Regulatory Services provided a
detailed overview of the complaints process and current issues and challenges.
The following points were highlighted by management:
• There is higher resistance from parties to resolve complaints.
• We need to ensure we are not closing cases where there may indeed be a conduct issue,
in the quest to meet timelines. The Enquiries and Jurisdiction team play a key role in
ensuring that this doe not occur, assessing seriousness in the first review.
• Of note, while complaints have doubled, there has been little change to the number of
misconduct cases.
• Teams have focused hard on the pre-CAC process, writing effective s74(3) inconsequential
decisions and managing volumes.
• We are closing about the same number of cases that are coming in, therefore we need
more resources to work through the backlog in order to get on top of complaint numbers.
• Likely drivers of increased complaints: economic pressures potentially resulting in more
low-level substandard service, greater awareness of and accessibility to REA, increased
consumer confidence to complain, and litigious behaviour (less willingness to resolve
issues).
• Head of Regulatory Services outlined pre-CAC data over last 5 years noting:
o E+J closed 40 cases so far, cf with 20 cases at the same time last year
o Inconsequential: in 2020/21 REA closed 32/208 (full year) cases as inconsequential, cf
60/222 in 2023/24, and cf 78/208 so far this year
o Resolutions: 80/208 resolved in 2020/21, 40/150 in 2022/23 cf 19/208 so far this year
Powered by
BoardPro
4
Minutes : REA Board Strategy Meeting - February 2025 - 19 Feb 2025
The Board discussed the following:
• The 20% CAC resolution statistic and all complaints statistics needs to be looked at further
to understand the reality of what is possible and what is not possible.
• Reduction in inconsequential may be due to agencies knowing there is a registrar power to
triage and refusing to accept responsibility and resolve early.
• The problem is not the process with managing pre-CAC complaints, it is the volume.
• Board considered what a properly functioning system would look like:
o Registrar triage power is critical, is it wide enough?
o Change in Act to definition of inconsequential (insufficiently serious) may assist triage
process and consumer understanding of the outcome
o Management have made recommendations in the paper on changes to the REAA.
o Biggest challenge is the CAC process:
▪ Complex and multisteps: DTI, investigation, decision, decision writing.
▪ Most require investigation
▪ Change in panel member every 5 years results in time taken to get
members up to speed - loss of experience, regular recruitment
administration
▪ Additional resource will assist but not solve the issues
• The Board considered supporting all of the suggested changes (cost of $400,000).
• The Board agreed the CAC model is imperfect and improvements are needed.
• Board noted the suggestion for an independent decision writer, and noted that staff can
write decisions without impacting the independence of CACs.
• Board discussed whether referring matters back to agency would be seen as dereliction of
duty. Management said this is not the case on the basis it is made clear to the consumer if
they wish to come back to REA, they can.
• Board encouraged management to explore ways that REA can report complaints to
agencies to enable agencies to have a more timely opportunity to resolve complaints.
Could include consent in renewal forms and on the portal.
• Discussion on whether CACs are adequately paid and should pay be set by the
Remuneration Authority.
• Board identified preferred improvements including:
o Find way to report complaint to agency
o Do not charge agency for complaint fee
o Seek legislative change to increase CAC panel numbers and panel remuneration
o Invest in proposed changes outlined in paragraphs 18 and 19 and get additional
resources
o Engage MoJ on further changes to the REAA to fix the complaint system
o Use REA staff to write decisions
4.
Deep Dive: REAA 2008
4.1
Deep Dive: REAA 2008
Deferred to March due to time constraints.
4.2
Reflections and Actions
Denese Bates and Belinda Moffat summarised the session and actions arising.
The strategic session closed at 12pm.
Powered by
BoardPro
5
Minutes : REA Board Strategy Meeting - February 2025 - 19 Feb 2025
5.
Close
5.1
Close the meeting
Next meeting: REA Board Meeting - February 2025 - 19 Feb 2025, 12:45 pm
27 March 2025
Signature:
Date:_________________________
Powered by
BoardPro
6
