Make a complaint
The Real Estate Authority is responsible for answering questions and dealing with complaints about licensed real estate professionals.
Ask a question or raise a concern
If you have a question about your real estate transaction or the behaviour of a real estate professional or agency, email us at info@rea.govt.nz
Note: Make sure you include your phone number in your email.
If we can't help you
There are some issues we can’t help with, for example, we can't assist with most complaints about residential property managers. If we're unable to help with your complaint, we’ll explain why and help you decide where else you can go.
We can’t intervene in a real estate transaction or stop a sale going through — if you find yourself in that situation, talk to your lawyer.
Make a complaint
We are responsible for addressing complaints about the behaviour of real estate professionals, and we run an independent, fair and open complaint process.
Step 1: Use the real estate agency's complaint process
Real estate agencies must have procedures to deal with complaints. We encourage you to talk to the real estate agency concerned first, because this may be the quickest and easiest way to resolve an issue.
Step 2: Contact us
If you are still not satisfied, please call us to talk about your complaint.
We can help you decide the best way to resolve the problem and check if we’re the right agency for you to make a complaint to. We can also talk through any questions you might have about the complaint process.
By phone: 0800 367 7322
It is best to call, but if you prefer, you can email us at info@rea.govt.nz. Please include your phone number.
Learn more about REA's complaints process
Step 3: Make a written complaint
Before you submit a formal complaint using the complaint form, it's important to call us to make sure we can help you with your complaint.
If you have already spoken to us and we've confirmed the problem is something we can help with, we'll ask you to formalise your complaint by putting it in writing using the complaint form.
We will either work with you and the agency to resolve your concerns or refer your complaint to a Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC).
You can post or email the completed form to us. Make sure you include any supporting evidence with your complaint.
Make a complaint form - Word version [DOCX, 911 KB]
Send the complaint form to us:
By email: complaints@rea.govt.nz
By post: Early Resolution Team, Real Estate Authority, PO Box 25 371, Wellington 6140
What happens next?
When we receive your formal written complaint, REA will consider whether we are able to look into it. We will consider:
- whether there are any alleged breaches of the Real Estate Agents Act (2008) or Rules, and what the impact of any breach has been
- whether we've looked at your complaint before, and whether the complaint is a correct use of the REA complaint process
- whether the complaint would be better managed by another organisation.
Complaint decisions are published
Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) and Disciplinary Tribunal decisions are published in our decisions database and the public register.
Search the REA complaints decisions database(external link)
Search the REA public register(external link) (includes all licensed real estate agents, salespeople, branch managers and companies)
You can also read Disciplinary Tribunal decisions on the Tribunal website(external link)
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