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Standard Terms of Engagement

General – These Standard Terms of Engagement (Terms) apply to any current engagement and also to any future engagement, whether or not I send you another copy of them.

I am entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case I will send you amended Terms.

My relationship with you is governed by New Zealand law and New Zealand courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Services – The services I am to provide for you (the Services) are outlined in my letter of engagement along with any further instructions that you provide to me in writing (or that I record in writing).

Communications – I will obtain from you contact details, including email address, postal address and telephone numbers. I may provide documents and other communications to you by email (or other electronic means). You will advise me if any of your contact details change.

Fees – The basis upon which I will charge my fees is set out in my engagement letter.

If the engagement letter specifies a fixed fee, I will charge this for the agreed scope of the Services.  Work which falls outside that scope will be charged on an hourly rate basis.  I will advise you as soon as reasonably practicable if it becomes necessary for me to provide services outside of the agreed scope and, if requested, give you an estimate of the likely amount of the further costs.

Disbursements and Expenses – In providing the Services I may incur disbursements and

payments to third parties on your behalf.  You authorise me to incur these disbursements (which may include such items such as search fees, registration fees and travel and courier charges) which are reasonably necessary to provide the Services.  You also authorise me to make payments to third parties on your behalf which are reasonably required to undertake the Services (which may include items such as experts’ costs or counsel’s fees).  These will be included in my invoice to you, shown as “disbursements” when the expenses are incurred (or in advance when I know I will be incurring them on your behalf). 

Office Service Charge Fee (Administrative expenses)- In addition to disbursements, I may charge a fee of $75 or as the charges maybe, to cover out of pocket costs which are not included in my fee and which are not recorded as disbursements. These include items such as photocopying and printing, postage and phone calls.

GST–  My services will usually attract Goods and Services Tax (GST). If this is the case, GST is payable by you on my fees and charges.

Invoices- I will send interim invoices to you, usually monthly, and on completion of the matter, or termination of my engagement.  I may send you invoices more frequently when I incur a significant expense or undertake a significant amount of work over a shorter period of time.

Payment – Invoices are payable within 7 days of the date of the invoice, unless alternative arrangements have been made with me. 

You authorise me to deduct my fees and other expenses from funds held in my trust account on your behalf on provision of an invoice to you, unless those funds are held for a particular purpose.

If you have difficulty in paying any of my accounts, please contact me promptly so that I may discuss payment arrangements.

If your account is overdue I may:

• require interest to be paid on any amount which is more than 14 days overdue, calculated at the rate of 5 % above the overdraft rate that my firm’s main trading bank charges me for the period that the invoice is outstanding;
• stop work on any matters in respect of which I am providing services to you;
• require an additional payment of fees in advance or other security before recommencing work;
• recover from you in full any costs I incur (including on a conveyancing practitioner/solicitor/client basis) in seeking to recover the amounts from you, including my own fees and the fees of any collection agency.
• Payment may be made by electronic transfers.

Fees and disbursements in advance – I may ask you to pre-pay amounts to me, or to provide security for my fees and expenses.  I may do this, on reasonable notice, at any time.

Third Parties – Although you may expect to be reimbursed by a third party for my fees and expenses, and although my invoices may at your request or with your approval be directed to a third party, you remain responsible for payment to me in accordance with these Terms if the third party fails to pay me.

Trust Accounting – I operate a trust account. All money received from you or on your behalf will be held to your credit in my trust account.

Payments out of the trust account will be made either to you or to others with your authority. Written authorisation from you (and if I am acting for more than one of you, from all of you) will be required when payment is to be made to a third party. Before making a payment to another account I may require verification of the account details by provision of (for example) a copy of a deposit slip, cheque or bank statement showing the account number, a signed authority from you including the bank account details, or a signed letter from the relevant financial institution providing bank account details.

A full record of my trust account is kept at all times. A statement of trust account transactions detailing funds received and payments made on your behalf will be provided to you periodically and at any time upon your request.

Unless it is not reasonable or practicable to do so, when I hold significant funds for you for more than a short period of time I will place them on call deposit with a bank registered under section 69 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989, subject to your having completed to the bank’s satisfaction any request for information relating to the deposit or certification required by the bank. Interest earned from call deposits, less withholding tax and an interest administration fee payable to me of 5% of the interest, will be credited to you. 

I will hold in confidence all information concerning you or your affairs that I acquire during the course of acting for you.  I will not disclose any of this information to any other person except:

1. a) To the extent necessary or desirable to enable me to carry out your instructions; or
2. b) As expressly or impliedly agreed by you; or
3. c) As necessary to protect my interests in respect of any complaint or dispute; or
4. d) To the extent required or permitted by law.

Verification of identity – Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 requires me to collect from you and to retain information required to verify your identity. I may therefore ask you to show me documents verifying your identity (such as a passport or driver’s licence). I may retain copies of these documents.  I may perform such other customer verification checks as to your identity and checks as to the source of any funds associated with any transaction to which the Services relate as I consider to be required by law.

Compliance – I am obliged to comply with all laws applicable to me in all jurisdictions, including (but not limited to):

I may be required to undertake customer due diligence on you, persons acting on your behalf and other relevant persons such as beneficial owners and controlling persons. I may not be able to begin acting, or to continue acting, for you until that is completed.

To ensure my compliance and yours, I may be required to provide information about you, persons acting on your behalf or other relevant persons to third parties (such as government agencies). There may be circumstances where I am not able to tell you or such persons if I do provide information.

Please ensure that you and/or any of the persons described previously are aware of and consent to this. It is important to ensure that all information provided to me is accurate. If the information required is not provided, or considered by me to be potentially inaccurate, misleading, or in contravention of any law, I may terminate or refuse to enter into an engagement.

Conflicts of Interest – I am obliged to protect and promote your interests to the exclusion of the interests of third parties and ourselves as set out in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Conveyancer’s Conduct and Client Care Rules) Rules 2008 (Rules). This may result in a situation arising where I have a conflict of interest.

1. I have procedures in place to identify and respond to conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest.  If a conflict of interest arises I will advise you of this and follow the requirements and procedures set out in the Rules. This may mean I cannot act for you further in a particular matter and I may terminate my engagement.

Duty of Care – My duty of care is to you and not to any other person.  I owe no liability to any other person, including for example any directors, shareholders, associated companies, employees or family members unless I expressly agree in writing. I do not accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever to any third parties who may be affected by my performance of the Services or who may rely on any advice I give, except as expressly agreed by me in writing.

My advice is not to be referred to in connection with any prospectus, financial statement, or public document without my written consent.

My advice is opinion only, based on the facts known to me and on my professional judgement, and is subject to any changes in the law after the date on which the advice is given. I am not liable for errors in, or omissions from, any information provided by third parties.

My advice relates only to each particular matter in respect of which you engage me. Once that matter is at an end, I will not owe you any duty or liability in respect of any related or other matters unless you specifically engage me in respect of those related or other matters.

Unless otherwise agreed, I may communicate with you and with others by electronic means. I cannot guarantee that these communications will not be lost or affected for some reason beyond my reasonable control, and I will not be liable for any damage or loss caused thereby.

Conduct and Client Care Rules – Conduct and Client Care rules are as outlined in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Conveyancing Practitioners: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008

Termination – You may terminate my retainer at any time.

I may terminate my retainer in any of the circumstances set out in the Rules including the existence of a conflict of interest, non-payment of fees, and failure to provide instructions.

If my retainer is terminated you must pay me all fees, disbursements and expenses incurred up to the date of termination.

Feedback and Complaints

If you are not satisfied with the way I have dealt with your complaint the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers has a complaints service to which you may refer the issue. Matters may be directed to:

New Zealand Society of Conveyancers

https://www.nzsconveyancing.co.nz/complaints.html

Standard Conveyancing

The meaning of standard conveyancing on a purchase is as follows:

1. Receiving the agreement.
2. Monitoring the conditions.
3. Taking your advice on each of the conditions.
4. Declaring the agreement unconditional.
5. Receiving your loan documents;
6. Preparing Notices of sale;
7. Attendances on you to sign the loan and the transfer documents; and
8. Completing the settlement on the day of the settlement.

The meaning of standard conveyancing on a sale is as follows:

1. Receiving the agreement.
2. Monitoring the conditions.
3. Taking your advice on each of the conditions.
4. Liaising with the bank for a discharge of mortgage
5. Preparing settlement statement
6. Attendances on you to sign the transfer documents; and
7. Completing the settlement on the day of the settlement.

The meaning of standard conveyancing on a re-financing is as follows:

1. Receiving instructions from your bank
2. Liaising with the bank for a discharge of mortgage
3. Checking rates
4. Preparing a discharge and a new mortgage
5. Attendances on you to sign the documents; and
6. Completing the settlement on the day of the settlement.