Legal Lowdown Newsletter#40

ISSUE

COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES SOUTH TRUST

40 February 2017

LEGAL LOWDOWN

NEW EPOA FORMS The New Zealand Law society has updated its guide on Powers of Attorney which can be downloaded , here: https://www.lawsociety.org.nz/news-andcommunications/guides-to-the-law/powers-of-attorney

Enduring Power of Attorney From 16 March 2017 a law change will require new forms to be used in order to appoint attorneys under an Enduring Power of Attorney.

If you or someone you know requires advice on or assistance with an Enduring Power of Attorney matter, please contact our office on (09) 274 4966, we’d love to help.

The new forms come as a result of changes to the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988

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OUR SERVICES What we do

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CONSUMER Trade Me Services

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TENANCY Case Update

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IMMIGRATION Unlicensed Advisors

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service areas

about us Community Legal Services South Trust is one of 24 community law centres in New Zealand. We are contracted by the Ministry of Justice to provide free legal services to people who reside in South Auckland*, Franklin and Otahuhu and meet the other criteria listed below.

Our services are free, however if there are costs associated with your issue you will need to pay that yourself (for example, court applications fees).

Family Law Debt Traffic Tenancy (tenants only) Civil Disputes Employment Matters (employees only) Insurance Minor Police Charges Consumer Issues Immigration Matters WINZ or Housing New Zealand Māori Land (outreach clinic)

we can’t assist with

our services We provide different services depending on the complexity of a case and the resources we have available. We might provide you with information, advice, assistance or representation.

We are unable to assist with:  Wills  Trusts  Estate matters  Property relationship matters  Commercial matters

referral service

eligibility

If we are unable to help you with your matter, we can give you names of private lawyers and/or legal aid lawyers.

To be eligible for our services you must: 

Reside in South and Otahuhu;

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Not qualify for legal aid; and

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Have an annual income below the following:

Auckland*,

Franklin

$33,800 (single person) $38,000 (1 dependent - spouse/partner or 1 child) $50,934 (2 dependents - spouse/partner or children) $57,880 (3 dependents - spouse/partner or children) $64,678 (4 dependents - spouse/partner or children) $72,302 (5 dependents - spouse/partner or children) 

You must provide photo I.D (passport or drivers license).

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You must provide proof of address.

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You must provide proof of income.

*Except Mangere

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We can also refer you to other community organisations if you have non-legal issues you need help with.

education We provide legal education seminars to the public and to community organisations. We can design seminars to meet the needs of your community or organisation.

To learn more about our services, please see our contact details, below: Phone: (09) 274 4966 Fax: (09) 274 4967 E-mail: admin@clsstlaw.com Website: www.clsstlaw.com

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OUR OUTREACH CLINICS Otara CLSST Office 120 Bairds Road Otara Appointments available: Monday – Friday Manurewa Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa Appointments available: Wednesdays Manukau Salvation Army 16B Bakerfield Place Manukau Appointments available: Monday-Friday Papakura Papakura Citizens Advice Bureau 4a Opaheke Road Papakura Appointments available: Thursdays Pukekohe Heartland Services 6A Roulston Street Pukekohe

Appointments available: Fortnightly on Tuesday

MÄ ori Land Clinic Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa

Appointments available: First Wednesday of every month 3

TRADE ME: REFUND PROMISE TRADE ME’S BUYER PROTECTION POLICY

WHEN DOES THIS POLICY NOT APPLY?

Popular New Zealand online auction site, Trade Me, will now offer a ‘money back’ guarantee for service users who purchase items that do not arrive after purchase (“non-delivery”) or do not match the description of the item listed in the auction (“not as described”).

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Buyer’s mistake Buyer’s remorse/change of mind Seller or another party has refunded you Item excluded Fraudulent claims Items damaged during pick up by the buyer Non-delivery where items are shipped to a vacant address

WHEN DOES THE POLICY APPLY? The policy applies if the following criteria have been met:

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The item was purchased by the service card payment system, ‘Pay Now’.

A dispute report has been filed within 30days of purchasing the item.

The item is not an ‘excluded’ item (such as banned items, vehicles, pets and animals) The purchaser has attempted, in good faith, to resolve the dispute directly with the seller.

(If the item is not as described,) The purchaser must return the item with original packaging to the seller’s address in materially the same, or similar, condition as when it was received by you (unless an exception applies).

The dispute falls within the category of “nondelivery” or “not as described”.

Trade Me reserves the right to refuse to a refund if it believes that a buyer has not acted reasonably or in good faith.

HOW MUCH WILL TRADE ME REFUND? Trade Me will refund up to $2,500 for purchases that meet the eligibility criteria under this policy. Trade Me may refund more at its discretion.

The money will be returned to the credit card or debit card used for the purchase. Trade Me may also make a bank payment in certain circumstances.

WHEN DOES THE BUYER PROTECTION POLICY COME INTO EFFECT? According to Trade Me’s head of marketplace, Stuart McLean, the policy be in effect from 21 February 2017.

For more information see the Trade Me website: www.trademe.co.nz 4

Rental Property Update DAMAGE TO RENTAL PROPERTIES: WHO PAYS?

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Failing to remove the dog from the property and allowing it access to the house to urinate so many times, showed that the actions of the tenant were deliberate and intentional because they knew it was a strong probability that the urinating would continue to occur.

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Because the tenant’s actions were intentionally causing damage to the property, the Tenant was then liable to pay for that damage.

In October 2016 we published an article about a Tenancy Tribunal decision, Tekoa Trust vs Stewart, Amanda where a Landlord was not able to claim the costs to repair damage to a rental property, caused by a tenant’s dog The parties had agreed to a “no -pets” clause in their tenancy agreement. However the tenant kept a dog on the premises in breach of this clause.

While the dog was on the property, it caused damage to the sum of $3,000.

The Tenancy tribunal determined that the tenant was not liable for the damage because they did not intend the damage to occur.

The landlord has now appealed the decision of the Tenancy Tribunal. Resultant the District Court has now found that: 

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Keeping the dog on the property without permission from the Landlord was an intentional act because it breached the Tenancy Agreement’s clause that said “no pets”.

The first or second time that the dog urinated on the carpet would have shown the tenant that continued urinating was a strong probability if the dog continued to stay on the property. This created a responsibility on the tenant to remove that dog from the premises.

Ultimately the District Court found that the Tenancy Tribunal adjudicator was wrong to deny the Landlord’s claim for the cost of damage to the rental property, cayued by the tenant’s dog.

As a result of this decision, if you are a Tenant, you may likely be liable for damage caused to the property if: 

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You have breached your Tenancy agreement, for instance by allowing pets onto the property without prior agreement.

That breach has caused damage to the property you are renting.

And you have not taken any action to remedy the situation or remove the cause of the damage to the property.

It is important you read and understand your obligations under your Tenancy agreement and do not have a pet on the rental premises unless you have specific permission from your Landlord.

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“BAD TENANT” DATABASE TENANCY TROUBLES: PERSONAL INFORMATION AND PRIVACY If you are a Tenant, you might be interested to learn about a new initiative that Landlords are able to use to keep track of what they term “Bad Tenants”.

A local company known as Tenancy Information New Zealand provides an online database system for all current New Zealand Landlords to gain information on a prospective or current Tenant, also sharing their experiences with a particular Tenant.

What might seem as a potentially useful tool in avoiding potential Tenants that have been responsible for damage to previous properties or unpaid rent and utilities could also be a potential breach of your privacy.

A search of this database by paid members (Landlords) gives access to:      

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Previous Tenancy Tribunal decisions for or against a previous or current Tenant.

Any Court Judgments against a previous or current Tenant.

A google search of that Tenant’s name.

A series of possible Facebook profile matches.

A search for that Tenants name on national and local news sites.

A search for that Tenants name in the Companies Office Registers for Directors and Shareholders.

A search for that Tenants name in Police Ten 7 recorded incidents.

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A search for that Tenant in the Sensible Sentencing Trust Sex Offences and Violent Crimes database.  A search for that Tenant in the New Zealand Gazette – a Government Newsletter pertaining to Companies and Issues of local importance.  Photos of that Tenant, potentially in the form of copied photo identification.

Alongside this information Landlords can pay an additional fee through the site to access the following without your consent and without telling you they are doing so:    

A full credit check and drivers licence verification.

A full driver’s license check.

A Ministry of Justice search for unpaid fines.

A search on the Personal Property Security Register for items you might have on hire purchase agreements or other loans you might have owing.

If you are a Tenant and you wish to see if they hold information on you, and if yes, what information they hold, you must provide a copy of your photo Identification and your current address. Where you receive information back about yourself that you believe to be wrong, the Company might refuse to update your record if they believe they have contradictory information.

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MAORI LEGAL INTERESTS Our Māori Land advisory clinics have started up for the year!

WHERE? Manurewa Marae 81 Finlayson Ave Manurewa WHEN? 1st Wednesday of every month COST?

TE MATATINI 2017 TE MATATINI 2017—TE KAHU O TE AMORANGI Te Matatini is the world’s biggest kapa haka event and this year it was hosted by Ngāti Kahungunu at Kahungunu Park in Hastings.

47 teams competed over 4 days all vying for the Duncan McIntyre trophy.

The competition was won, for the second time, by Gisborne’s Whāngārāmai-tawhitii.

We were pleased that Community Law had a presence at the Festival.

Free! We are fortunate that our clinics are run with the pro-bono services of Te Mata Law and Bennion Law. Contact our office on (09) 274 4966 to make an appointment

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Whāngārā-mai-tāwhiti

PASEFIKA IMMIGRATION ISSUES ADVISERS Ni sa bula vinaka, Kia orana, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Fakalofa lahi atu, Taloha ni, and warm Pacific greetings.

The Authority says they take unlicensed immigration advice seriously and are working proactively to identify and prosecute unlicensed advisers.

UNLICENCED IMMIGRATION ADVISERS

The Immigration Advisers Authority was set up to promote and protect the interests of people receiving New Zealand advice.

This is the message from the Immigration Advisers Authority. By law, any person that gives you immigration advice about New Zealand must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless they are exempt. This includes people giving New Zealand immigration advice from the Pacific or anywhere in the world.

The Immigration Advisers Authority says Pacific communities continue to be highly represented among victims of unlicensed immigration advice.

Eight of the 12 prosecutions the Authority have taken involved victims in the Tongan, Fijian and Samoan communities. The Authority has recently launched a campaign to increase awareness in Pacific Island communities of the importance of only using licensed or exempt people when seeking New Zealand advice.

Representatives from the Authority travelled to Samoa, Fiji and Tonga in January to promote the message through local media, and radio advertisements have run in New Zealand and the three countries, along with social media advertising campaign.

They do this by:    

Issuing licences to people who are fit and competent to give immigration advice.

Maintaining competency standards and a code of conduct for immigration advisers.

Investigating people giving immigration advice without a licence or exemption.

Receiving complaints from people who have received poor immigration advice.

Under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 anyone giving immigration advice must have a licence unless they are exempt. Exempt people include lawyers with a current New Zealand practising certificate and Citizen Advice Bureau staff among others.

For more information visit www.iaa.govt.nz

Authority Registrar Catherine Albiston says “The combined communications effort has been very successful, with our ads reaching more than 200,000 people and more than 15,000 extra visits to the IAA website so far. Fiji, Samoa and Tonga have all moved into the top four countries that mostly visited the IAA website, replacing India and the United States.”

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OUR CASEWORK February 2017

LEGAL REPRESENTATION: 7% LEGAL ADVICE: 44% LEGAL ASSISTANCE: 49%

SERVICE USERS

PRACTICE AREAS

Asian: 11.5%

Administrative Law 37%

European: 12%

Civil Law: 28.5%

MÄ ori 13.5%

Family Law: 20%

Pacific Islanders: 60%

Criminal Law: 14.5%

Other: 3%

Free Legal Education Check out our FREE legal education services.

We can tailor our education sessions to meet the requirements of your organisation.

If you want to know more you can view our legal education booklet via our website at http:// www.clsstlaw.com/education.html You can also view our education booklet as an ebooklet at https://issuu.com/commuitylaw/docs/ legaleducationpromo_e-version_1 We also offer sessions targeted at youth who will soon be leaving school and will need to understand their rights with respect to getting their first job and first flat and obligations when buying things on credit or through HirePurchase.

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