Property Investors Mediation Service: Terms & Conditions
PURPOSE
Our principal purpose is to:
- provide redress to businesses which find themselves in situations that could be remedied by way of resolution rather than having to go straight to the Small Claims or County Court;
- investigate, in the first instance, matters in dispute between two parties with a view to providing mediation – our “Investigation Service”;
- resolve disputes by way of providing an impartial mediation service which carefully and impartially considers the evidence provided during the investigation process and whose purpose is to reach a solution agreeable to all parties – our “Mediation Service”;
- provide impartial adjudication to unresolved disputes where mediation has failed (or not taken place through lack of engagement by one party) and to provide, after careful and impartial consideration of all available evidence, a decision with which both parties should comply – our “Adjudication Service”;
- ensure that all investigations, mediations and adjudications are fair and reasonable;
- actively assist and support members who are operating businesses in the three sectors covered by PIMS by providing best practice support;
- help to improve standards in these sectors of the property industry.
Our purpose is NOT to:
- provide redress for members who engage in Estate Agency, Letting Agency or Property Management;
- provide redress for Consumers, as we are purely a business-to-business mediation service.
GENERAL TERMS
All Members agree:
- to comply with these terms and conditions;
- to accurately complete, sign and return the PIMS Membership Form. Any inaccuracies or omissions may lead to membership cancellation;
- to update their contact information or change of circumstances as soon as possible after an any change;
- to accept that a list of members' names may be published on the PIMS website
- to pay any applicable membership fees or Penalty Fees on time and/or within the time-frames provided at Mediation or Adjudication;
- to co-operate fully and honestly at all stages of the Investigation, Mediation and/or Adjudication processes;
- to comply with all Final or Default Decisions reached at Mediation and Adjudication;
- to engage in Mediation and/or Adjudication in good faith, in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and the Mediation Agreement (where applicable), and not to abuse the process or PIMS staff in any way. This includes reasonable and fair use of the service, such fair use to be determined at the sole discretion of the board of PIMS Limited;
- to accept that every dispute referred to PIMS is considered impartially and on its own merits. Previous decisions do not set a precedent for future decisions;
- to accept that if a Member does not engage in the Mediation or Adjudication process, PIMS may adjudicate in their absence and make a “Default Decision” with which the Member(s) will comply;
- to ensure that they are familiar with and compliant with all applicable laws and best practice in their field of business;
- to accept that PIMS may investigate their conduct which may lead to cancelling and barring their membership if:
- they have breached these Terms and Conditions;
- they have failed to comply with any terms of a Final or Default Decision, including payment of any Penalty Fees;
- they have abused any member of PIMS, its agents or staff;
- they have brought PIMS and/or any related business or agent thereof into disrepute.
- to accept that PIMS may publish a list of Barred Memberships on its website as a warning mechanism to industry professionals;
- to accept that these Terms and Conditions may be updated from time to time and Members agree to comply with the latest published version.
- not to display the PIMS logo or use their membership number after their membership has lapsed. Failure to do so could result in being added to the Barred memberships list
GDPR
All Members agree that:
- PIMS may use and share with the other party to the dispute all the Information provided by Members for the purpose of the Investigation, Mediation or Adjudication stages of the dispute resolution process, unless expressly stated otherwise;
- PIMS may use all or part of the Information, as it deems fit, fair and relevant to the dispute, and PIMS will only the use the Information provided in compliance with relevant laws including GDPR, legal or professional privilege.
DEFINITIONS
“Adjudication”: A process by which careful and impartial consideration is given to all Information provided during the Investigation and Mediation stages of a dispute. A decision will be reached by the PIMS Adjudication panel and their decision will be final. Failure to comply with an Adjudication decision can lead to cancellation of Membership and being included in a published list of Barred Memberships.
“Barred Membership”: A membership which has been cancelled and then barred as a result of a Member’s failure to comply with these Terms and Conditions, any Final or Default Decision or any unreasonable behaviour on the part of the Member, at the sole discretion of PIMS management.
“Consumer”: An individual (a natural person, not a small business or legally incorporated organisation) who is acting wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession.
“Deal Sourcing”: This is where Person A (the Deal Sourcer) finds a property capable of providing a good return on investment for an investor. Person A negotiates a good price for the property via a letting agent or estate agent and presents this as a deal to Person B (the Investor). Person B buys the deal from Person A for a fee, at which point Person A introduces Person B to the letting agent or estate agent. Person A is no longer involved in the property acquisition and is not an agent for Person B or the property owner in any capacity.
“Default Decision”: This is where a decision is made by PIMS in the absence of any co-operation or engagement by a Member who is a party to a dispute. A Default Decision is final.
“Final Decision”: This is where a final decision has been agreed at Mediation or reached at Adjudication.
“Information”: This is all the information provided by the Member(s) during the course of the Investigation and/or Mediation and/or Adjudication process.
“Joint Ventures”: This is where Person A and Person B join forces to buy or rent a property with a view to deriving an income or profit from the property. Each party may provide a different form of investment. Person A might provide financial input and Person B might provide project management skills (e.g. non financial input such as negotiation, manual labour i.e. “sweat equity”). Person A and Person B, by virtue of a contract between them, will share the profits made from the joint venture in accordance with their agreement. A joint venture may comprise several parties, not just two as in this example.
“Mediation”: A process designed and intended to resolve unresolved disputes by way of providing impartial consideration of Information provided by each party to a dispute, and attempting to reach a solution agreeable to all parties.
“Mediation Agreement”: A formal agreement formalising the procedure by which the mediation will take place and agreeing to comply with the agreement which becomes legally binding upon the parties.
“Member”: A member of PIMS.
“Penalty Fees”: The sum which has been determined at the end of Mediation or as a result of Adjudication to be owing by one party of a dispute to the other(s).
“PIMS”: The Property Investors Mediation Service, a trading name of Property Investors Mediation Service Limited.
“Rent To Rent”: This is where Person A (the Secondary Landlord) rents a property from Person B (the Primary Landlord) directly or via a letting agent, as a company let via a Rent To Rent Lease Agreement. Person A pays Person B a guaranteed rent, with permission from Person B to let the property to Person C (the tenant or guest). Person A does not manage the property on behalf of Person B, they are a landlord in their own right and receive rental directly from Person C.