Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016 (Tas)

Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016

An Act to regulate certain auction and real estate practices, to regulate property agents and to repeal the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2005 [Royal Assent 21 December 2016]

Be it enacted by Her Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

PART 1 - Preliminary

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016 .

2. Commencement The provisions of this Act commence on a day or days to be proclaimed.

3. Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – approved form means a form approved by the Board; approved institution – see section 147(2) ; auditor means a person practising as a public accountant who is a member of – (a) the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants; or (b) the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia; or (c) the Institute of Public Accountants in Australia; authorised place of business, in respect of a real estate agent named in Part 1(1) of the Register, a property manager named in Part 2(1) of the Register or a general auctioneer named in Part 3(1) of the Register, means a place shown in the Register as a place where the agent, manager or auctioneer may carry on, respectively, real estate agency business, property management business or general auctioneering business; Board means the Property Agents Board continued under section 5 ; business, in respect of the sale or purchase of a business, includes a share in a business and the goodwill of a business, but does not include a share in the capital of a company; Code of Conduct or "Code" means the Code of Conduct referred to in section 84 ; company means a body corporate wherever incorporated; conveyancer has the same meaning as in the Conveyancing Act 2004 ; deemed registration means an entitlement to automatic deemed registration, within the meaning of the Mutual Recognition Act 1992 of the Commonwealth; document means any record of information, and includes – (a) anything on which there is writing; and (b) anything on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them; and (c) anything from which sounds, images or writings can be reproduced with or without the aid of anything else; and (d) a map, plan, drawing or photograph – and a reference in this Act to a document (as so defined) includes a reference to – (e) any part of the document; and (f) any copy, reproduction or duplicate of the document or of any part of the document; and (g) any part of such a copy, reproduction or duplicate; employ includes engage under a contract for services; functions of a property representative includes all or any of the following functions performed by a person while in the employ of a real estate agent or property manager: (a) inducing or attempting to induce, or negotiating with a view to inducing, people to do all or any of the following: (i) acquire or dispose of property or a business; (ii) make an offer to acquire or dispose of property; (iii) make an offer to acquire or dispose of a business; (iv) enter into a contract for the acquisition or disposal of property; (v) enter into a contract for the acquisition or disposal of a business; (b) negotiating the leasing or letting of property; (c) collecting rents for property that is leased or let; (d) managing property that is leased or let; general auctioneer means a person who holds a valid general auctioneer licence; general auctioneering business means business as an auctioneer where the property auctioned does not include land; general auctioneer licence means – (a) a type of licence referred to in section 15(c) that is issued and in force in accordance with section 19(1)(a) ; or (b) a general auctioneer licence held by a person by virtue of holding deemed registration; Guarantee Fund or Fund means the fund as continued in existence by section 149 under the name Property Agents Guarantee Fund; legal practitioner means an Australian legal practitioner; licence means – (a) a licence issued and in force under this Act; and (b) a licence held by a person by virtue of holding deemed registration; licence holder means a person who holds a licence; magistrate means a magistrate within the meaning of the Magistrates Court Act 1987 ; name, in respect of a real estate agent named in Part 1(1) of the Register, a property manager named in Part 2(1) of the Register or a general auctioneer named in Part 3(1) of the Register, means the name shown in the Register as a name by which the agent, manager or auctioneer may carry on, respectively, real estate agency business, property management business or general auctioneering business; owner, in respect of property, means the person who holds the legal title to it, that person's successors and assigns and an agent of that person; Panel means the Panel referred to in section 104(3) ; property includes both real and personal property and any estate or interest in any property real or personal; property agent means a real estate agent, a property manager, a general auctioneer, or a property representative; property agent licence means – (a) a real estate agent licence; and (b) a property manager licence; and (c) a general auctioneer licence; and (d) a property representative licence; property agents industry means the business carried on by property agents; property management business means the carrying out of all or any of the following activities pursuant to instructions received from other people: (a) negotiating the leasing or letting of property; (b) collecting rents for property that is leased or let; (c) managing property that is leased or let; property manager or manager means a person who holds a valid property manager licence; property manager licence means – (a) a type of licence referred to in section 15(b) that is issued and in force in accordance with section 19(1)(a) ; or (b) a property manager licence held by a person by virtue of holding deemed registration; property representative or representative means a person who holds a valid property representative licence; property representative licence means – (a) a type of licence referred to in section 15(d) that is issued and in force in accordance with section 19(1)(a) ; or (b) a property representative licence held by a person by virtue of holding deemed registration; public auction means an auction that has been publicly advertised; publish means publish by any means including by publication on the internet; real estate agency business means the carrying out of all or any of the following activities pursuant to instructions received from other people: (a) selling, buying, exchanging, leasing or otherwise dealing with, or disposing of, property or businesses; (b) negotiating the sale, purchase, exchange, lease or any other dealing with, or the disposition of, property or businesses; (c) collecting rents for property that is leased or let; (d) managing property that is leased or let; real estate agent or agent means a person who holds a valid real estate agent licence; real estate agent licence means – (a) a type of licence referred to in section 15(a) that is issued and in force in accordance with section 19(1)(a) ; and (b) a real estate agent licence held by a person by virtue of holding deemed registration; region means the northern region, the north-western region or the southern region; Register means the Register of Property Agents maintained by the Board under section 29 ; regulations means the regulations made and in force under this Act; relative, in relation to a person, includes partner, within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003 , of that person; Rental Deposit Authority means the Rental Deposit Authority established under section 48K of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 ; repealed Act means the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2005 ; Residential Tenancy Commissioner means the person appointed under section 7 of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 ; sale means a disposition of property for valuable consideration; scheme of arrangement means a scheme of arrangement referred to in section 147 ; statutory authority means a body or authority, whether incorporated or not, that is established or constituted by or under an Act or under the royal prerogative, being a body or authority which, or of which the governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person or persons appointed by the Governor, a Minister or another statutory authority, but does not include an Agency, within the meaning of the State Service Act 2000 ; Tribunal means a Tribunal established in accordance with section 104 ; Trust means the trust as continued in existence by section 141 under the name Property Agents Trust; trust account – see section 134 ; trust money – see section 133 . (2) In this Act – (a) a reference to Part 1(1) of the Register is a reference to Division (1) of Part 1 of the Register; and (b) a reference to Part 1(2) of the Register is a reference to Division (2) of Part 1 of the Register; and (c) a reference to Part 2(1) of the Register is a reference to Division (1) of Part 2 of the Register; and (d) a reference to Part 2(2) of the Register is a reference to Division (2) of Part 2 of the Register; and (e) a reference to Part 3(1) of the Register is a reference to Division (1) of Part 3 of the Register; and (f) a reference to Part 3(2) of the Register is a reference to Division (2) of Part 3 of the Register.