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Property Settlement Portal Terms of Use

Applicability of these Terms

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) apply to your use of the BOPRC Property Portal. We may change these Terms at any time by posting changes online.

Please read these Terms carefully before you start using the BOPRC Property Portal. By using the BOPRC Property Portal you agree to be bound by these Terms, and as such, these Terms will form an agreement between you and us. If you do not accept them, you should not use the BOPRC Property Portal.

If we post changes to these Terms online, your continued use of the BOPRC Property Portal will indicate your acceptance of those changes.

In these Terms:

"You" means the person (includes a corporation sole, and also a body of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated) accessing or using the BOPRC Property Portal and "your" has a corresponding meaning. For the avoidance of doubt, in the case of an organisation (such as a law firm) that permits multiple staff members to use the organisation’s login user name and password, “you” and “your” includes reference to the organisation as a legal entity itself and/or each individual staff member the organisation allows to use its login details as the context requires.

"We" means Bay of Plenty Regional Council. "Our" and "us" has a corresponding meaning.

“BOPRC Property Portal” means the BOPRC Property Portal, which is a website providing online services relating to rates.

Your responsibilities

Use of the BOPRC Property Portal is restricted to users who have registered with us. You must keep your registration codes and other registration information (including the unique single use link that we provide to you confidential and must not disclose them to any third party. When your user name or email and password have been successfully used to log in to the BOPRC Property Portal, we may assume that any searches, transaction requests or other instructions we receive during that login session are authorised by you, and we will hold you responsible for any actions performed on the BOPRC Property Portal during that session.

You may only search and inspect the rates records for a rating unit if you are one of the persons specified in section 38(1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

You may only use the BOPRC Property Portal for the purposes of searching and inspecting the rates record for the purpose of a property settlement or property refinancing, for cancelling a direct debit, and for any other purpose specifically referred to on the BOPRC Property Portal.

You may only make a request for a transaction on the BOPRC Property Portal if you are the ratepayer or the ratepayer is your client and the ratepayer has authorised you to make the request on his/her behalf.

Prior to each search of the BOPRC Property Portal, you will be required to declare

You agree to use the BOPRC Property Portal in a responsible manner that:

  • complies with all applicable laws and regulations;
  • complies with these Terms, and any policies and instructions for use of the BOPRC Property Portal provided by us;
  • does not infringe the rights of anyone else, nor restrict or inhibit their use and enjoyment of the BOPRC Property Portal.

In particular, you agree not to:

  • knowingly or recklessly use, or attempt to use, any of our services provided on the BOPRC Property Portal for a purpose for which it was not intended, including any unlawful purpose;
  • damage or harm the BOPRC Property Portal, or any underlying or connected network or system;
  • introduce any content or code to the BOPRC Property Portal which is technologically harmful;
  • upload or post any content on the BOPRC Property Portal (or use the BOPRC Property Portal to transmit any communication) which is illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy or otherwise objectionable.

In addition, when posting or uploading information to the BOPRC Property Portal:

  • you must make sure all information you provide to us is correct, complete, and kept current; and
  • you agree that any such information may be used, copied, distributed, or disclosed by us for rating purposes.

You must notify our Rates team immediately by calling 0800 267 728 (0800 BOP RATES) if you know, or have reason to believe, that there has been, or is about to be, fraudulent or other unlawful use of any of our services provided on the BOPRC Property Portal.

Information transmitted over the internet is inherently insecure. However, we have physical, electronic, and managerial processes in place to protect the information we collect via the BOPRC Property Portal. Any information sent through the BOPRC Property Portal is passed through a secure server using encryption technology. All stored customer data is protected with secure passwords, user log-ons and other security procedures.

While we make every reasonable effort to keep information and materials on the BOPRC Property Portal secure and confidential, if appropriate, we are not responsible for any breach of security that is out of our control.

You are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to:

  • prevent someone misusing or getting unauthorised access to your computer system or to any codes or passwords you have to access the BOPRC Property Portal, and
  • ensure your computer system and data are free of viruses and other forms of corruption.

Links to external sites

For your convenience the BOPRC Property Portal may contain links to other sites that are external to us and are not under our control. While we take reasonable care in selecting linked sites, the inclusion of any such link does not imply endorsement, investigation, or verification by us of the linked sites

We are not responsible for, and make no representations, warranties or conditions concerning, the contents or operation of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. It is your responsibility to make your own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability, and correctness of information contained in linked external sites

Suspension or cancellation of your access

We may suspend or cancel your access to the BOPRC Property Portal without notice to you if we consider that:

  • disabling your access is necessary to maintain the integrity or security of the BOPRC Property Portal, our other services and systems, or any organisation or person; or
  • the access is being misused or has otherwise been compromised; or
  • you breach these Terms.

Where appropriate, we will notify you of any suspension or cancellation of your access as soon as practicable after doing so.

Your liability

You indemnify us for all claims, damages, and liabilities (including our liability to a third party), losses and expenses (including costs as between lawyer and client) arising directly or indirectly as a result of your breach of these Terms.

In addition, if you knowingly access or use, or attempt to access or use (or allow an unauthorised person to access or use), any of our services on the BOPRC Property Portal for an unlawful purpose (including but not limited to fraud or attempted fraud or hacking or attempted hacking), you will be liable to pay any party (or us on a party’s behalf) the amount of the loss suffered by them caused directly or indirectly by your unlawful actions. For the avoidance of doubt, this clause is not intended to confer benefits enforceable by third parties under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982.

Disclaimer

We have made every reasonable effort to provide accurate and current information on this BOPRC Property Portal. However, we do not present this information as advice and do not accept responsibility for actions taken based on reading it.

The BOPRC Property Portal is under constant review, and the content may change without notice.

The BOPRC Property Portal (and its content) is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We reserve the right to withdraw or amend the BOPRC Property Portal at any time.

We do not guarantee that:

  • BOPRC Property Portal visitors will have uninterrupted or error-free access to, and use of, the BOPRC Property Portal;
  • the BOPRC Property Portal or any files available for downloading will be error-free or free from viruses, faults or defects;
  • the content of the BOPRC Property Portal is accurate, complete, or suitable for a particular purpose. BOPRC Property Portal visitors must rely on their own judgement in relation to any matter of that type.

We will not be liable for any loss or damage (direct or otherwise) you suffer in connection with your use of the BOPRC Property Portal or of any linked website or your use of, or reliance on, content contained on or accessed through the BOPRC Property Portal or any linked website. We also exclude any condition or warranty that could be implied into these terms (but only to the extent that this is allowed by law).

Privacy Statement

We comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act 2020. BOPRC also has a detailedPrivacy Statementthat explains what personal information we collect, and how we collect, use, and share your personal information. Any information collected from you shall be treated in accordance with BOPRC’s obligations under the Privacy Act 2020 and ourPrivacy Statement.

We may collect personal information about you in relation to the BOPRC Property Portal when:

  • you are registering or logging in to use the BOPRC Property Portal;
  • you are posting any content or transmitting any messages on or through the BOPRC Property Portal;
  • you communicate with us (verbally or in writing) in relation to the BOPRC Property Portal.

In each case, we will only use this personal information for the purpose for which it was collected. This includes the administration and evaluation of the BOPRC Property Portal, improving our services and provision of them to you, and verification of identity. It may also include specific purposes notified to you on the BOPRC Property Portal for specific services. We may also collect personal information for a purpose required or permitted by the Privacy Act 2020 or otherwise required or permitted by law. We may use your information to provide you with information about our services that we think might be of interest to you. If you ask us not to provide you with this information, we will comply with your request. We will keep any personal information you provide secure and will not disclose it to any other parties without your prior consent or as required or permitted by the Privacy Act 2020 or otherwise required or permitted by law.

You may seek access to personal information held about you by us in accordance with your rights under the Privacy Act 2020 and as set out in the Privacy Statement. You have the right to ask to have information corrected or deleted. To protect your privacy, and that of others, we may ask you to verify your identity as part of actioning an access or correction request.

All enquiries about, or formal requests for, information in terms of the Privacy Act 2020 should be made in writing to:

Bay of Plenty Regional Council

By post: PO Box 364
Whakatāne 3158

By email: privacy@boprc.govt.nz

If you feel we have breached the Privacy Act or have a privacy issue you wish to discuss with us, please contact us at the above email or postal address or phone 0800 884 880.

If you believe there is a privacy dispute we cannot resolve, you can make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner, who can investigate potential breaches of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Commissioner’s contact details are available on their website.

Copyright

© Bay of Plenty Regional Council 2024.

This BOPRC Property Portal and the content on this BOPRC Property Portal is owned or otherwise provided by Bay of Plenty Regional Council. All rights reserved ®. All material on this BOPRC Property Portal, including without limitation, text, images, graphics, layout, look-and-feel and any other information contained on or in this BOPRC Property Portal (collectively, "Content") is subject to copyright and other proprietary rights. All images are, unless otherwise stated, Copyright © Bay of Plenty Regional Council 2024.

Externally sourced content or material is copyright to the respective provider.

BOPRC Property Portal visitors may reproduce, store and use the content of this BOPRC Property Portal for legitimate purposes only as explained under “Your responsibilities” above. Any reproduction must include a prominent acknowledgement of Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s rights in the relevant content.

Except as stated in the above paragraphs, no portion of the content of the BOPRC Property Portal, or the Council logo(s), may be copied or used without the written our permission.

Disputes

If you have a dispute with us in connection with these Terms or any of our services, you must first call our Rates Manager. Both you and our Rates Manager will use all reasonable efforts in good faith to resolve the dispute. If you and our Rates Manager are unable to resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you may ask the Rates Manager to escalate the dispute to his/her manager or the Chief Executive.

We will promptly contact you and will endeavour to resolve the dispute with you. If, following escalation, the dispute is still not resolved to your satisfaction, you agree to attempt in good faith to settle the dispute with us by mediation before commencing legal proceedings or making a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Invalidity or unenforceability

If any of these Terms or their application to any person or circumstances is, to any extent, held to be invalid or unenforceable:

  • the remainder of these Terms or the application of such Terms to any other person or circumstances shall not be affected;
  • each term shall be valid and enforceable to the extent permitted by law; and
  • the invalid or unenforceable term will be deemed to be amended to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intention (as determined from this BOPRC Property Portal).

Governing law

The BOPRC Property Portal is governed by the laws of New Zealand. When you access the BOPRC Property Portal, you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.

 

Last updated April 2024