Case Study: Real Estate Authority achieves faster, more consistent legal decisions and streamlined complaints handling with M-Files

Nz Real Estate Authority Improves Legal Advice And Complaints Outcomes With M-files

The Real Estate Authority (REA) is New Zealand’s independent regulator for the real estate industry, responsible for licensing, discipline and handling complaints through independent Complaints Assessment Committees (CACs). REA’s legal team needed CAC members to base decisions on consistent, up‑to‑date precedents and advice, but guidance was scattered across emails and a shared drive, making it hard to track versions, find prior positions and ensure everyone had the latest information.

Working with partner DocSmart, REA implemented M‑Files as a searchable knowledge vault and matter-management system with metadata-tagged documents, online request forms, automated workflows, peer review and version control. After a three-month pilot and rollout to about 40 users, CAC members and staff reported faster research, clearer visibility into legal requests, more consistent decisions, simplified peer review and strong adoption across the legal and administration teams.

Real Estate Authority

Phirak Appleton

General counsel