Articles: Property Law & First Home Buyers

Purchasing land in a development

So you have decided to build your dream home and are looking for land to build on. If you decide to purchase land in a development, the following are some practical points to take into account when making your decision.

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What is a Legal Executive?

A Legal Executive is a person who works as a trained assistant to a lawyer in a legal environment and belongs to the New Zealand Institute of Legal Executives. A Registered Legal Executive is one who is registered with the Institute and is a member of the Institute.

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Insurance - Intentional Damage update

Late last year I wrote an article about the Court of Appeal decision in Holler v Osaki (Osaki). The ongoing application of this decision by the Tenancy Tribunal (Tribunal) had become rather controversial as the decision had not clarified what “intentional damage” meant.

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Insurance - Landlord & Tenant Obligations

Note: This ruling was subsequently successfully appealed. See details here

Picture this: You have worked hard and saved for ten years. You have built up enough equity to purchase a rental property (they are paying for themselves at the moment, so why wouldn’t you?) You arrange for tenants to move in and all seems well. That is, until the tenants leave and you discover they’ve trashed the place. Until recently you would have been able to claim the cost of repair of this damage from the Tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. However, this position has recently changed.

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Property Investment - LVR Changes

From 1 October 2016 the new investor loan to value (LVR) restrictions will take effect for registered banks. However banks have already been applying the restrictions unless you had pre-approval prior to the restrictions being announced.

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