Property and land law.
Tim's experience in acting for parties involved in defective building litigation has given him a great deal of experience on property matters and in particular in providing advice on the rights and potential liabilities under agreements for the sale and purchase of real estate. Tim Rainey has presented numerous seminars for both the New Zealand Law Society and the Auckland District Law Society on that topic and he has provided advice and representation to numerous parties involved in disputes where agreements for sale and purchase of real estate go wrong. Tim is frequently instructed to provide opinions for solicitors whose clients are either facing claims or who wish to exercise their rights in those circumstances.
Tim has also written extensively on the rights and responsibilities of both lessors and lessees on the hot button issue of earthquake prone buildings and in particular the recent changes brought about to the Building Act by the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016.
Tim’s notable cases in this area include:
- Saffioti v Ward [2013] NZHC 2831 where Tim acted for the unsuccessful appellants in an appeal addressing the contractual liability arising from the sale and purchase of a leaky home.
- Edwards v Cull [2014] NZHC 1556 where Tim acted for the vendors who were facing a misrepresentation claim by the purchasers arising out of the common practice of providing a vendor’s pre-sale building inspection report which had failed to identify weather tightness defects in the property.
- Merj Holdings Ltd v Sipka [2016] NZCA 521 where Tim was acting for the respondent who had purchased a commercial building from the appellant who had misrepresented the structural soundness of the building. The issue on appeal was the measure of damages and whether the respondent should be permitted to take the matter back to the District Court to prove the loss claimed.