14Conflict of interest

14 Conflict of interest

(1)  A conveyancer must –

(a) disclose any conflict of interest arising in the course of his or her work to any person who may be affected by the matter; and

(b) take all reasonable steps to avoid any such conflict of interest.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 100 penalty units.

(2)  [Section 14 Subsection (2) amended by No. 58 of 2016, Sched. 4, Applied:01 Apr 2017] A person who has suffered loss arising from a conflict of interest on the part of a conveyancer may make an application for compensation under section 152 of the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016 .

(3)  For the purposes of this section, a conveyancer is taken to have a conflict of interest in respect of a transaction if –

(a) the conveyancer is obliged, in fulfilling his or her duty to one party to the transaction, to withhold information or advice from another party that, by reason of the conveyancer's duty to that other party, he or she should not withhold; or

(b) for any other reason, the duties owed by the conveyancer to one party to the transaction conflict with the duties owed by the conveyancer to another party to the transaction; or

(c) the conveyancer has a personal or pecuniary interest in the transaction arising otherwise than from his or her services as a conveyancer.