Terms of Use
These Terms of Use define and govern the use of the dotproperty.co.nz website and any associated services – they apply to all users including property owners and tenants.
1. General
a. Website
This website, https://dotproperty.co.nz/ (“website”), is owned, operated and maintained by DOT. Property Management Limited (“DOT.”), a company registered in New Zealand (Company Number: 8672286).
b. Nature of our services
DOT. provides services that:
i. Provide day-to-day management of residential, commercial and holiday home properties
ii. Manage tenant selection and agreements.
c. Fees and Charges
Property Management Services Fees and Charges
i. Fees and Charges: 7-8% + GST Management Fee for residential and commercial properties. $10 per disbursement transaction. 10% for repairs, maintenance and renovations, $45+GST per inspection over and above 3 free quarterly. 20%+GST for holiday home management.
Refund Policy
i. Refund Policy: Any fees or charges paid by a property owner to DOT. are NOT REFUNDABLE.
d. Agreement to be bound by these Terms of Use
i. By accessing, registering or in any other way using the DOT. website and associated services, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use apply to any user of the website, including property owners, tenants, and prospective tenants.
ii. If you violate any of these Terms of Use, DOT. may, at its sole discretion, remove or suspend your usage and disallow access to the associated services. See clause 2(c) of these Terms of Use for further provisions regarding suspension or removal of accounts.
e. Legal Compliance
DOT. endeavours to fully comply with any relevant New Zealand laws governing the provision of its services, including:
• Consumer Guarantees Act 1993
• Fair Trading Act 1986
• Privacy Act 2020
• Commerce Act 1986
• Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017
Property owners and tenants must comply with the terms of the agreement between them, which may include, but are not limited to, the following laws:
• Residential Tenancies Act 1986
• Unit Titles Act 2010
• Building Act 2004
• Consumer Guarantees Act 1993
• Fair Trading Act 1986
• Privacy Act 2020
DOT. will have available information to property owners, tenants, and prospective tenants to help them comply with some of their obligations arising under the laws listed above.
However, responsibility for compliance ultimately remains with property owners and tenants. Property owners and tenants should review the relevant laws and regulations for their property type and local area, including local government planning regulations, and seek independent legal advice or other professional advice before leasing their property.
f. Modification of Terms of Use
i. DOT. may, in its sole discretion, modify, vary, amend, or revise these Terms of Use (including, without limitation, any associated services provided to a property owner, prospective tenant, or tenant under these Terms of Use) at any time. You agree to be bound by any varied terms in these Terms of Use.
ii. DOT. will endeavour to notify you of any significant changes to these Terms of Use from time to time. You agree that you will also periodically review the most up-to-date version of these Terms of Use as part of your usage of this website and associated services.
g. Definitions
In these Terms of Use, the following terms have the specified meaning:
• “property owner” – means a person who rents out a property that they own or that they have the right to lease (e.g. a tenant who sub-lets to a sub-tenant). “Landlord” may be used in the alternate to “property owner”.
• “landlord” – has the same meaning as in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (NZ).
• “tenant” – has the same meaning as in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (NZ).
• “prospective tenant” – means a person who uses the DOT. tenant-find services for the purpose of finding and applying for residential rental accommodation.
• “tenancy” – has the same meaning as in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (NZ).
• “Residential Tenancy Agreement” – has the same meaning as in the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (NZ).
• “user” – means any person who uses or accesses the DOT. website or associated services, regardless of whether they are a property owner, tenant, prospective tenant, or any other person.
• “intellectual property rights” – means copyright, patents, trademarks, designs and other statutory rights and all common law or equitable rights protecting business or personal reputation.
• “associated services” – means any services provided to a property owner, landlord, tenant, or prospective tenant, or other user by DOT. as part of their use of the DOT. website.
• “property management” – means those services provided by DOT. through the website that facilitate the management of an existing tenancy situation or relationship.
• “personal information” – has the same meaning as in the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ).
• “referred user” – means someone who’s been referred to DOT. by a qualified user. You become a referred user by clicking on a referral link and creating a new tenancy, on boarding tenants and collecting first rent though DOT. using DOT. Property Management Ltd.
h. Users of Website and Associated Services
i. DOT. does not vet, question, or check in any way any user of the website and associated services, including those who are property owners, tenants, or prospective tenants. Further, DOT. does not conduct any identity checks or personal verification of any user of the website and associated services. DOT. does not in any way warrant or guarantee the accuracy of any user’s identity in using the website and associated services. This clause is subject to the limited exception in clause 1(i)(ii).
ii. DOT. does conduct background, credit, and tenancy checks on prospective tenants on behalf of property owners when the prospective tenant consents to such checks.
iii. By using the website and associated services, you:
• Agree to abide by any and all laws, including, but not limited to, residential tenancy laws, planning and building laws and regulations, and local government regulations and by-laws.
• Agree to use your true and actual identity at all times when using the website and interacting with any other user.
• Agree that any and all information or other content that you share or otherwise supply to DOT. and associated services, or any other user is true and correct. If any such information changes, you must notify DOT. and any affected other user as soon as reasonably practicable.
iv. DOT. does not make any representation or provide any warranty or guarantee in respect of any user of the Website and associated services including, but not limited to, any representation or warranty in respect of the suitability, behavioural characteristics of or creditworthiness of any user of the website and associated services.
i. Conduct of Users
i. By using the website, you understand that you are solely and wholly responsible for your actions, conduct, and communication on or otherwise affecting the website and associated services and the experience of any other user in using the website and associated services.
ii. DOT. is not in any way responsible for the actions, conduct, or speech of any user in using the website and associated services. Further, DOT. is not an agent or representative for any user, nor does it guarantee or endorse the lawfulness or truth of any words, actions, or speech taken by any user.
iii. DOT. is not liable for any losses incurred as a result of the actions, conduct, or speech of any user of the website or associated services.
2. Use of DOT. Property Management Limited Services
This section sets out the Services of DOT. Property Management Limited, the terms upon which those services are provided to property owners, tenants, and other users, and the terms upon which those services must be used by property owners, tenants, and other users.
a. Owners – Tenant selection, rent collection, disbursement management, repairs and maintenance, renovations, property inspections, digital access to owners property portfolios via MRI Palace software.
b. Tenants – Fair prices, communication hub and portal, listing priorities, tenant of the month.
3. Privacy
The relevant terms of use relating to privacy are contained in the DOT. Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with these Terms of Use.
4. Property Owner’s (Landlord) Insurance
i. You, as a property owner, agree and understand that you bear sole responsibility for any losses incurred to you as a consequence of your tenancy, including pursuing losses caused by a tenant against that tenant. You understand that DOT. in no way bears any responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of any tenancy and in no way insures you against any loss.
ii. You understand that it is prudent and best practice for property owners to get ‘landlord insurance’ (or a similar insurance policy) to protect against losses arising from a tenancy, including unpaid rent or property damage.
iii. You understand and agree that it is your sole responsibility to determine whether any existing insurance policy you hold in relation to a residential premises covers the renting of that premises, including where the tenancy is self-managed by the property owner. DOT. is no way assumes any responsibility for assessing your coverage under any existing policy you may hold.
5. Intellectual Property Rights in Website
i. You understand and acknowledge that DOT. (or the supplier of any relevant material) owns all the rights in the Website and associated services and all material comprised in the Website (‘Website Content’) (this includes but is not limited to Intellectual Property Rights, text, images, web pages, sound, software (including, but not limited to, code, interface, and website structure), and video, extending to the ‘look and feel’, design, and compilation of any such materials). This clause excludes content uploaded to the Website or associated services.
ii. You understand, acknowledge, and agree that you are only permitted to use the Website Content in a manner consistent with these Terms of Use, or as otherwise expressly authorised in writing by DOT..
iii. You understand and agree that you are expressly forbidden from copying, reproducing, transmitting, publicly performing, distributing, commercially exploiting, adapting, translating, modifying, bundling, merging, sharing or making available to any person, or creating derivative works of the Website Content.
iv. You understand and agree that you are expressly forbidden from copying, reproducing, transmitting, publicly performing, distributing, commercially exploiting, adapting, translating, modifying, bundling, merging, sharing or making available to any person, or creating derivative works of any content, including trademarks, of third parties that is hosted on the website or associated services.
v. You are permitted to reproduce or communicate any Website Content that appears in any articles of blog posts on the website or associate services that have been posted by DOT., upon the condition that you must credit DOT. as the source of that content and provide a link to the DOT. website when reproducing or communicating such content, regardless of the medium through which the content is communicated or reproduced.
6. Limitation of Liability
a. Use of Website
You understand and acknowledge fully that use of the website and associated services is at your own risk. DOT. makes no representations and gives no guarantees or warranties that the website or associated services are without any defects or that any other user of the website and associated services will comply with these Terms of Use or any applicable law in their use of the website and associated services.
b. Limitation of Liability
i. DOT. will not have any liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort (including through negligence), pursuant to statute, or otherwise) to you for any loss, indirect loss, purely economic loss, or other damage of any kind that you may incur or suffer as a result of or in connection with your use of the website and associated services.
ii. DOT. will not have any liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort (including through negligence), pursuant to statute, or otherwise) to you for any loss, indirect loss, purely economic loss, or other damage of any kind that you may incur or suffer as a result of or in connection with any dealing with DOT..
iii. Notwithstanding these Terms of Use, DOT. will not have any liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort (including through negligence), pursuant to statute, or otherwise) to you for any loss, indirect loss, purely economic loss, or other damage of any kind that you may incur or suffer as a result of or in connection with your interactions, engagement, discussions, transactions, or otherwise with any other user of the website and associated services. This is inclusive of interactions or otherwise between property owners and tenants with regards to a tenancy managed through the DOT. website and associated services.
iv. DOT. will not have any liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort (including through negligence), pursuant to statute, or otherwise) to any insurer of you or to any public compensation scheme for any loss, indirect loss, purely economic loss, or other damage of any kind that you may incur or suffer as a result of or in connection with your use of the website and associated services.
Third Party Sites and Links
v. DOT. may provide links to third party sites and as part of its provision of the website and associated services. You acknowledge and agree that DOT. does not control such sites and DOT. is not responsible for the content on those sites or the privacy of other practices of such sites. These links are exclusively for convenience, promotional and informative purposes, and DOT. does not necessarily endorse the content of any site so linked and makes no representations, warranties, or guarantees as to the truthfulness or correctness of any content on such a site. DOT. will not have any liability whatsoever (whether in contract, tort (including through negligence), pursuant to statute, or otherwise) to you for any loss, indirect loss, purely economic loss, or other damage of any kind that you may incur or suffer as a result of or in connection with your reading or use of any content on any third party site linked on the website or associated services.
vi. References on the website or associated to any products, services, processes, trade names, trademarks, or other information of third parties does not imply or constitute an endorsement, sponsorship, association with or recommendation by DOT.
c. Consumer Law
If the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986, the Privacy Act 2020, or any other law or statute implies into these Terms of Use any further terms, or provides for any guarantees regarding the provision of any associated services under these Terms of Use, or creates any duties or obligations at law for DOT., which cannot be excluded or modified (or the effect of which cannot be excluded or modified), then DOT.’s liability for breach of any such term, guarantee, duty, or obligation is limited, at the discretion of DOT., to re-supplying the relevant services to you, a refund of the cost of supplying those services to you, or payment of the cost of having the services re-supplied.
7. Indemnity
i. By using the website and associated services, you indemnify DOT. and its directors, officers, employees, agents and contractors, and agree to keep each of them fully indemnified, from and against any loss, claim or damages (including, without limitation, any costs (including legal costs) on a full indemnity basis) suffered, incurred or brought against any one or more of them by a third party as a result of any breach by you of these Terms of Use or arising out of any use by you of the website or associated services.
ii. The general indemnity in clause 12(i) includes, but is not limited to, the following circumstances:
• any loss, claim, or damages suffered or made by any third party or other user arising out of or in relation to any information, material, content that you post on or communicate to the website, associated services, or to DOT. whether through a social networking site or otherwise;
• any loss, claim, or damages suffered by a third party or other user as a result of any infringement of any rights of a third party including, without limitation, Intellectual Property Rights in any information, material, or content that you upload to the website or the associated services, or provide to DOT.;
• any loss, claim, or damages suffered by a third party or other user as a result of any act or default committed by you and which is directly or indirectly related to any information, material, or content that you or another person upload to the website or associated services, or provided to DOT. or as part of your use of the website or associated services; or
• any loss, claim, or damages suffered or alleged by a third party or other user as a result (direct, indirect or otherwise) of any act, omission, failure or default by you or by anyone for whom you are legally responsible (vicariously or otherwise) in any way connected with your access to the website, the associated services, or your account for or use of any of the associated services.
8. Referral programs
To be an eligible participant in the referral program, you must meet the verified user confirmation and the referral you made is deemed an eligible referral by DOT. or a referred user and your tenancy is deemed an eligible referral by DOT. If this is correct, a verified user will receive a reward mentioned on the site. No reward will be given in relation to any referrals that aren’t eligible referrals. If you participate in the referral program as a verified user, then a reward will be given for each eligible referral you make. DOT. reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the program, change the reward, or choose not to award a user if deemed ineligible at any time.
9. Money Laundering
Use of the website or associated services for money laundering by any user will form grounds for termination or suspension of that user. This extends to any activity which DOT., at its sole and absolute discretion, suspects on reasonable grounds may constitute or be related to money laundering in any jurisdiction. DOT. reserves the right to verify the identity of any user suspected in acting in a fraudulent, dishonest or disruptive manner.
10. Interpretation and Miscellaneous
a. Exclusive Jurisdiction Clause: New Zealand Courts
i. Any dispute arising from these Terms of Use between DOT. and any other party shall be determined exclusively in the Courts of New Zealand and no other jurisdiction.
ii. Any dispute arising between DOT. and any other party with respect to the website and associated services shall be determined exclusively in the Courts of New Zealand and no other jurisdiction.
b. Choice of Law Clause: New Zealand Law
i. The interpretation, construction, and effect of all of these Terms of Use shall be governed and construed exclusively in accordance with the laws of New Zealand.
ii. Any dispute arising between DOT. and any other party with respect to the website and associated services shall be governed and construed exclusively in accordance with the laws of New Zealand.
c. Relationship
i. No partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship is created by these Terms of Use (or by the use of the DOT. website or associated services) between DOT. and any user, or between any users.
ii. You must not, and cannot, enter into any agreements or incur any liabilities on behalf of DOT. or any user without the prior consent of that party. You must also not represent that you have the authority to enter into any such agreements or incur any such liabilities.
d. Terms of Use constitute entire agreement and/or understanding
i. These Terms of Use (in addition to the Privacy Policy) exclusively constitute the entire agreement and/or understanding between DOT. and any user with respect to the subject matter of these Terms of Use.
ii. These Terms of Use supersede and make ineffective any and all prior or contemporaneous oral or written agreements, undertakings, or representations between DOT. and any user.
e. Severability and Reading Down
i. Should any part of these Terms of Use be found void, voidable, unenforceable, unlawful, or illegal, that part will be read down in order to be valid and enforceable.
ii. If, alternatively, a part cannot be read down, then it will be severed from these Terms of Use. Severance of a part of these Terms of Use will not affect the validity or effectiveness of any other part of these Terms of Use.
f. Terms of Use to be read as a whole.
These Terms of Use are intended to be read, interpreted, and understood as a whole document.