The Acting Branch Manager Without the Right Licence
Tama is the top salesperson at a two-office agency in Hamilton. The company’s agent licence holder, Marama, has moved to Australia for six months and wants Tama to “run the Hillcrest branch” while she is away. Tama holds a current salesperson licence and has completed the salesperson qualification, but not the branch manager qualification. The branch has four salespersons, including one new licensee who started three weeks ago. Marama proposes that Tama continue listing and selling, sign agency agreements on behalf of the branch, and provide day-to-day guidance to the new salesperson, while Marama remains the licensed agent and checks in by phone weekly. The new salesperson has asked Tama to approve an advertising budget and to countersign a listing agreement. Tama is unsure whether he can do this.
1. What licence class must Tama hold to act as branch manager, and what are the consequences if he performs those duties on a salesperson licence?
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Tama must hold a branch manager licence. Under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008, a person may only do real estate agency work of a kind authorised by their licence class. A salesperson licence authorises sales work under supervision; it does not authorise supervising other salespersons, holding out as a branch manager, or signing agency agreements in a supervisory capacity. The branch manager class has a prescribed qualification (currently the NZ Certificate in Real Estate (Branch Manager) Level 5) and the Registrar must be satisfied the applicant is fit and proper.
If Tama acts as branch manager on a salesperson licence, he is acting outside his licence class. That is a breach by Tama and by the company that allows it. It risks disciplinary findings of unsatisfactory conduct, fines or conditions, and it undermines the defensibility of the branch’s agency agreements. The new salesperson would also be insufficiently supervised. Tama should not accept the role until licensed; Marama must appoint a licensed branch manager or make other compliant supervision arrangements.
2. How should the branch’s supervision obligations be met during Marama’s absence, and what should Tama do about the new salesperson’s requests?
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Marama remains the agent licence holder and is responsible for the business, but she cannot use Tama as a de facto branch manager. The branch needs a licensed branch manager with the prescribed qualification, or the agent must arrange supervision by another licensed branch manager or agent who can properly oversee the four salespersons. Weekly phone calls from Australia are unlikely to be adequate, especially with a licensee in their first three weeks.
Tama can continue to list and sell under supervision, and he can mentor the new salesperson informally, but he must not approve the advertising budget as a supervisor or countersign the listing agreement as branch manager. Those are supervisory or agency functions. Tama should refer both requests to Marama or the appointed branch manager, document the referral, and ask for written confirmation of who is supervising whom. The new salesperson should have a named supervisor, an induction and competency plan, file reviews and pre-publication checks. If no compliant arrangement is made, Tama should escalate to the company and consider declining the role.