Privacy Statement 

Tremains Real Estate

Last updated : 4/11/2026

Our commitment to your privacy

 

At Tremains Real Estate, we value the trust you place in us. Protecting your personal information and being transparent about how we collect, use, store and share it is an important part of the service we provide.

This Privacy Policy explains how we manage personal information in accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and other applicable legislation.

This policy applies to the Tremains Real Estate businesses listed below, collectively referred to as Tremains, we, us or our:

  • Tremain Real Estate (2012) Limited
  • Tremain Real Estate Wairarapa Limited
  • Tremain Real Estate Taupo Limited
  • Tremain Real Estate Rotorua Limited
  • Tremain Real Estate Manawatu Limited
  • Tremain Real Estate Levin Limited

It applies to personal information collected through our real estate and property management services, offices, website, digital platforms, marketing activities and other interactions with us.

 

1. What personal information do we collect?

The information we collect depends on how you interact with us and the services you require.

This may include:

  • Personal and contact details: Your name, address, email address, telephone number and other contact information.
  • Property information: Details about properties you own, sell, purchase, rent or enquire about, including your property preferences and requirements.
  • Identity verification information: Identification documents, dates of birth, ownership details and other information required to verify your identity or meet legal obligations.
  • Financial and transaction information: Information relevant to property transactions, payments, rental applications or our legal and regulatory obligations.
  • Communications: Records of enquiries, correspondence, appointments and interactions with our agents or staff.
  • Marketing preferences: Your interest in particular properties, locations, price ranges, property types and communications.
  • Website and digital information: Your IP address, browser type, device information, website activity and information collected through cookies or similar technologies.

We aim to collect only the information reasonably necessary for our business activities or required by law.

2. How do we collect your information?

We generally collect personal information directly from you when you:

  • Enquire about a property, request an appraisal or attend an open home.
  • Buy, sell, rent or manage a property through Tremains.
  • Contact our agents or staff by telephone, email, online forms or in person.
  • Register to receive property alerts, newsletters or other updates.
  • Participate in competitions, promotions or events.
  • Interact with our website, social media pages or other digital platforms.
  • Provide information as part of our legal or regulatory obligations.

Information collected from third parties

In some circumstances, we may collect personal information about you from other sources, including:

  • Publicly available property records and registers.
  • Solicitors, accountants and other professional advisers.
  • Vendors, purchasers, landlords, tenants and other parties involved in a property transaction.
  • Other real estate professionals and service providers.
  • Third-party verification, property information or compliance services.

Where we collect personal information indirectly, we will comply with Information Privacy Principle 3A of the Privacy Act 2020.

This means we will take reasonable steps to ensure you are informed about the collection, including why the information was collected, who may receive it, our contact details and your rights to access and request correction of your information.

There are circumstances where the Privacy Act allows exceptions to these notification requirements, including where you are already aware of the collection or where another applicable exception applies.

3. How do we use your personal information?

We use personal information to provide our services, maintain client relationships, manage property transactions and meet our legal obligations.

This may include:

  • Responding to property enquiries and appraisal requests.
  • Managing property listings, sales, purchases and rental transactions.
  • Communicating with buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants and their representatives.
  • Providing information about properties or services relevant to your interests.
  • Maintaining accurate records of client interactions and transactions.
  • Managing appointments, open homes and property inspections.
  • Processing payments and managing accounts.
  • Improving our services, systems and customer experience.
  • Carrying out marketing, advertising and promotional activities.
  • Meeting our obligations under applicable legislation, including the Privacy Act 2020, Real Estate Agents Act 2008 and Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

We will use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, or for other purposes permitted by law.

4. Our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system

Tremains uses a customer relationship management system to manage property enquiries, buyer interest, vendor communications and other client interactions.

Our CRM may record information such as:

  • Names and contact details.
  • Property ownership and listing information.
  • Buyer preferences, including location, price range and property type.
  • Records of property enquiries, inspections and open home attendance.
  • Communications and interactions with our agents and staff.

This information helps us provide a consistent and informed service, respond to enquiries, manage transactions and identify properties or services that may be relevant to your interests.

Access to our CRM is restricted to authorised personnel and service providers who require the information to perform their duties.

We use appropriate security measures to protect information held within our systems from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.

5. Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)

As a real estate agency, Tremains has obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

To meet these obligations, we may need to collect and verify personal information, including:

  • Proof of identity and residential address.
  • Information about property ownership and beneficial ownership.
  • Information about trusts, companies and other legal arrangements.
  • Information about the source of funds or source of wealth, where required.
  • Other information necessary to meet our customer due diligence and ongoing compliance obligations.

We may use authorised third-party service providers to assist with identity verification and AML/CFT compliance.

Information collected for AML/CFT purposes will be used, stored, disclosed and retained in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Certain AML/CFT records must be retained for at least five years, with the applicable retention period depending on the type of record and the relevant statutory requirements.

Where information is required by law, we may be unable to provide certain services until the necessary verification has been completed.

6. Marketing and property updates

We may use personal information to keep you informed about properties, market updates, services and opportunities that may be relevant to your interests.

This may include:

  • Property alerts and new listings.
  • Open home and auction information.
  • Market updates and newsletters.
  • Information about our services, events and promotions.
  • Digital advertising tailored to relevant audiences.

We will comply with applicable privacy and electronic marketing requirements, including the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007.

You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option in our electronic communications or contacting us directly.

Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from contacting you about an existing transaction, service or other matter where communication remains necessary or legally required.

7. Website, cookies and digital advertising

When you visit our website, we may collect information about how you interact with it.

We use cookies and similar technologies to support website functionality, understand visitor behaviour, improve our services and measure the effectiveness of our advertising.

Information collected may include:

  • Your IP address and browser type.
  • The device used to access our website.
  • Pages viewed and time spent on our website.
  • How you arrived at our website.
  • Your interactions with website content and advertising.

We may use third-party analytics and advertising services to help us understand website activity and deliver relevant advertising.

These providers may collect or process information through cookies, pixels or similar technologies in accordance with their own privacy policies.

You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings, although some website features may not function as intended.

8. Social media and third-party websites

Tremains uses social media and other digital platforms to communicate with clients, promote properties and share information about our services.

When you interact with us through platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or YouTube, we may receive information that you choose to share or that is made available through those platforms.

Your use of third-party platforms is also subject to their own privacy policies and practices.

Our website may contain links to external websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of those websites, as we are not responsible for how independent third parties collect or manage personal information.

9. Who do we share your information with?

We may share personal information where reasonably necessary to provide our services, manage property transactions or meet our legal obligations.

This may include sharing information with:

  • Authorised Tremains staff, agents and related businesses.
  • Solicitors, accountants and other professional advisers.
  • Parties involved in a property transaction, where appropriate.
  • Property marketing, advertising and listing service providers.
  • IT, CRM, cloud storage and other technology providers.
  • Identity verification and AML/CFT service providers.
  • Auditors, compliance advisers and professional service providers.
  • Regulatory authorities, government agencies and law enforcement bodies where required or permitted by law.

We will only disclose personal information where authorised by you, necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or otherwise permitted or required by law.

We do not sell personal information to third parties.

10. How do we store and protect your information?

We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold against loss, unauthorised access, misuse, modification and disclosure.

Personal information may be held electronically or in physical records.

Our security measures include, as appropriate:

  • Restricted access to information and business systems.
  • Password protection and other access controls.
  • Secure storage and management of electronic records.
  • Confidentiality requirements for staff and service providers.
  • Appropriate arrangements with third-party technology and cloud service providers.
  • Internal procedures for managing information security and privacy incidents.

We use third-party cloud-based systems to support our real estate, administration, property management and compliance activities.

While we take reasonable precautions to safeguard information, no electronic storage or transmission method can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

11. Overseas storage and disclosure

Some of our technology and cloud service providers may store or process personal information outside New Zealand.

Where personal information is disclosed to an overseas recipient, we will comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act 2020, including Information Privacy Principle 12 where applicable.

This may involve ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place, relying on other permitted grounds for overseas disclosure, or obtaining informed authorisation where required.

We take reasonable steps to ensure personal information remains appropriately protected when using overseas service providers.

12. How long do we keep your information?

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, to provide our services, or to meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

Different retention periods may apply depending on the nature of the information.

For example, certain AML/CFT records must be retained for at least five years in accordance with the applicable statutory requirements.

Where information is no longer required for a lawful purpose, we will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it.

13. Your rights to access and correct personal information

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to request access to personal information we hold about you and to request correction if you believe that information is inaccurate.

You may also ask us to delete information that we no longer need, although we may be required to retain certain information for legal, regulatory or legitimate business purposes.

If we do not agree to a requested correction, you may ask us to attach a statement of correction to the information.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request to protect your information from unauthorised disclosure.

We will respond to requests in accordance with the timeframes and requirements of the Privacy Act 2020.

14. Privacy breaches

We take privacy and information security incidents seriously.

If a privacy breach occurs, we will assess the circumstances, take appropriate steps to contain the breach and reduce potential harm, and determine whether notification is required.

Where a breach has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm, we will notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals as soon as practicable, in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, unless a statutory exception applies.

We will also review incidents to identify improvements to our systems and processes.

15. What happens if you do not provide information?

You are not generally required to provide personal information to us.

However, certain information may be necessary to respond to your enquiry, provide a service, complete a property transaction or meet our legal obligations.

If you choose not to provide information that is necessary for these purposes, we may be unable to provide the relevant service.

16. Privacy enquiries and complaints

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, would like to access or correct your personal information, or have concerns about how your information has been handled, please contact our Privacy Officer.

Privacy Officer: Stuart Christensen

Tremains Real Estate
PO Box 778
Napier 4140
New Zealand

Email: stuart.christensen@tremains.co.nz
Phone: 027 221 2212

We will review your enquiry or complaint and respond as soon as reasonably practicable, in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner
Website: www.privacy.org.nz
Phone: 0800 803 909

17. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, systems, business practices or legal obligations.

The current version will always be available on our website.

We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we manage personal information.