Housies is the trading name of Tressel Limited.

Tressel Limited is licenced by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) which is a Crown Entity (part of Government). Click here to view our FMA Crowdfunding licence.

Housies is required to be audited every year. Housies also does annual regulatory reporting to FMA.

Why do I have to give Housies my passport or drivers' licence?

As Housies is offering shares in properties for sale to the general public, we are required by law to verify your identity before you are allowed to use our marketplace.

The way we verify your identity is through our AML process. Even if you have been AML verified by your bank, we have to complete the same process.

We check that you are who you say you are in two ways which is legally required:

• We check your legal name on your driver's licence or passport, with the legal name that your bank has, and with the name you provided to us to ensure an EXACT match.
• We check the address you provided to us with the address that your New Zealand bank has for an EXACT match.

I am having trouble getting verified, what do I do?

If you don't pass your AML verification due to a name or address used that does not exactly match as explained above, we can reset your account to try again if you contact us.

Housies cannot change incorrectly entered name, birth date or address information on your behalf.

Please check that your bank holds the correct legal name, date of birth and address and that this is the same as your drivers licence or passport BEFORE you start the AML process. Please allow 24 hours for the bank details to be fully changed before trying to get verified with Housies again.

Who is Akahu?

Akahu is our Open Banking partner. Open Banking is similar to performing an EFTPOS transaction online as money moves directly from your bank account to whoever you are paying instantly.

Akahu provides secured money transfers via Open Banking protocols which enables you put money in, and withdraw money from your Housies Wallet, and to buy shares in properties.

We also use Akahu to help us complete part of our AML verification process.

Please visit Akahu's website at akahu.nz for more information.

Why do I need to give you my bank username and password?

By providing your access details, you permit Akahu to perform secured financial transactions from your bank account to your Housies Wallet. Every time you want to put money into your Wallet and buy shares on our marketplace, you don't need to login or make payment, it just happens automatically.

You control Akahu's access to your bank accounts. You can revoke Akahu's access to your bank account via your Housies Profile Page (top right-hand corner). You can link Akahu to your bank account for each transaction if you prefer.

Our system is a robust secure platform that safeguards your information.

How do I own a piece of property?

Housies sets up a separate company to own each property listed on our marketplace. The company is the registered legal owner of the property. Customers own Shares (also called equity securities) in the company. By that association, you are a direct owner in a piece of the property!

These shares can then be bought and sold on our secondary marketplace whilst keeping the legal owner of the property as the company.

Each company has an independent director that is responsible for managing that company. They act on behalf of the shareholders of the company i.e. you.

Where does my Wallet money go?

Housies operates a separate custodial trust account to hold all money that customers put in their Wallet on their behalf. This is your money and not Housies' money and is not accessed by us. The management of these accounts are audited annually.

You have full control over your Wallet and can deposit or withdraw funds from your bank account at any time via Akahu.

What happens to the Wallet money I use to buy Shares in a new property offer?

When you buy shares, the money in your Wallet gets transferred to the Property's custodial trust account.

The sale and purchase agreement for the property will typically have a sell-down period of 60 days to 90 days, which can be extended by mutual agreement.

Once you buy shares, the money is committed to that Property for the duration of the sell-down period.

What happens if the house doesn't sell down?

If a property does not sell down, customers will be refunded all their money invested including any fees.

What happens once the property is sold?

Once all shares in a property are sold, Housies will transfer the money collected for that property to a conveyancing lawyer who will settle the property purchase and your shares will be allocated to you. You are now a part owner of a property!

How do I sell my shares?

If you wish to sell your shares, you will need to list them on our secondary marketplace. This can only be done if the property has been fully sold down.

You can decide how many shares to sell and what price you wish to sell them for within approved pricing bands to prevent market manipulation.

Each property has a shareholder living in the property called a Guardian. The Guardian owns a minimum of 2% of the shares and typically will want to increase their shareholding over time. The Guardian gets notified when you list your shares on the secondary marketplace and may wish to purchase your shares.

What if Housies goes out of business?

If Housies goes out of business, the shares in each property-owning company will be passed directly to you as shareholder.

Customers' Wallet balances will be refunded to them as these are held in trust.

The Housies secondary marketplace will no longer be able to be used to sell your shares in the property.

The property will be valued by an independent valuer.

A special general meeting of shareholders would be held, where shareholders with the independent director will decide the future of the company and the property.

Shareholders can decide to sell the property in the open market and distribute the proceeds across all shareholders or keep the property and appoint a property manager.