Complaints about the service provided by CHRA

Service and process complaints

If you are not happy with the service you have received from us, you think we have failed to follow our own processes, or that we have acted in a manner which is not consistent with our stated purpose we would like to hear about it.

We have a complaints resolution process for resolving complaints about:

  • The time it took us to process your application or provide any other service
  • Any process failures, where we didn’t follow our own instructions or processes
  • Any time we didn’t communicate with you clearly
  • Any time you believe you weren’t treated with courtesy or respect
  • Any poor quality information we provided, for example on our website or in our forms
  • Any response to previous complaints.

How to complain

If you want to make a complaint, you can write to the Head of the Community Housing Regulatory Authority.

You will need to include:

  • Your name and contact information
  • The name of the staff member(s) the complaint concerns
  • Information about your complaint and what affect it has had, for example, if we provided poor quality information, you should explain how this affected you
  • What outcome you are seeking.

You will need to send your complaint to:

       The Head of the Community Housing Regulatory Authority

       Community Housing Regulatory Authority
       Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
       PO Box 82
       Wellington 6140
       New Zealand

Or email it to:    CHRA@hud.govt.nz

If you have already done this and don’t feel our response resolves your complaint, you can complain to the Deputy Chief Executive, Solutions Design and Implementation.  Please outline the reasons why you don’t think your complaint has been resolved, as send the complaint to:

       Deputy Chief Executive

       Solutions Design and Implementation

       Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga - Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
       PO Box 82 
       Wellington 6140 

Timeframes for resolving complaints

When we receive a complaint, we aim to:

  • Acknowledge receipt of the complaint as soon as practicable, but within 5 working days
  • Respond to the complaint within 20 working days.

If you have more than one complaint, your complaint is about more than one issue, or your complaint is particularly complex to investigate, we may require longer to resolve the issues raised.  If this occurs, we will let you know as soon as practicable.

Assessing complaints

When we assess complaints, we aim to:

  • Keep an open mind and take a fresh look at the issues raised
  • Treat your complaint as a priority and respond as soon as we can
  • Be fair
  • Understand the reasons you think we’re wrong and address those reasons
  • Treat complaints as a driver for continuous improvement.

What we need from you

It will make it easier for us to resolve your complaint if you:

  • Clearly identify the grounds for your complaint
  • Provide any extra information we may request
  • Act honestly and treat us with courtesy and respect – we’ll do the same for you.

If you disagree with a decision by the Authority

If you want a decision reviewed, (for example, an unsuccessful application for registration) but you cannot point to any process or service failures, then the complaints process will not help you.  You should instead discuss the issue with us to determine if the decision may be reviewed. If you remain unsatisfied with the outcome of these discussions, you may appeal a decision of the Authority to the District Court.

You can find further information about this process here(external link)