4 April 2012

Time running out for red zone homeowners

Red zone homeowners, who have offers from CERA expiring this month, are being urged to check that they have signed and returned the agreement.

If they don't return the agreement in time, they will forfeit CERA's offer to buy their land. The first letters of offer from CERA were dated 19 August 2011, meaning that agreements for the sale of those properties must be loged by 19 April 2012.

Richard Lang and Suzy Garnett,of Duncan Cotterill Lawyers, said they were fielding dozens of new enquiries from homeowners in the red zone worried about which was the best CERA option forthem.

"If any agreements for the sale of red zone properties are not with CERA within nine months from the date of the CERA letter of offer, CERA’s offers simply expire, meaning that the owners of property in the red zone will no longer have the option to sell their property to CERA.

"They will still be able to deal with their insurer in relation to their insurance claim, however, the underlyingland will remain in their ownership. The CERA offer to purchase red zoned land only remains valid for nine months after the date of the CERA letter of offer. "

Lang and Garnett said red zone home owners must make sure that they have all the information they need to make a fullyinformed decision so they know which option of the CERA offer they want to take up.

“One of the issues red zone property owners are facing is that settlement of their insurance claims is taking longer than expected and likewise finding a replacement property is challenging in the current property market. It is hard for red zone property owners to make a decision about their CERA offerwithout having a firm idea of their insurance entitlements and replacement property options.”

Lang and Garnett said they had spoken to CERA about problems around the expiry date.

"We've explained the difficulties in sending agreements to them without first having all of the relevant information to help make a fully informed decision.

"CERA was sympathetic but said that they could not accept agreements after the nine month expiry date. Any change to this situation would require Cabinet approval," Lang and Garnett said.

ENDS

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