Legal services

Uus Maa now offers legal services in questions related to real estate. In addition to giving legal advice, we prepare and draft agreements and documents that may be needed in the field of real estate. We also help you to solve your disputes both inside and outside the courtroom.

In order to use our legal services, send a brief description of the circumstances of your problem and your contact details at karlis.kolk@uusmaa.ee or call us on +372 5334 5554. We will reply to queries received via e-mail within one business day.

Do not hesitate to ask for help!

General Terms and Conditions of Legal Services as of 16 October 2018.

1. Application of General Terms and Conditions
   • OÜ Kinnisvarabüroo Uus Maa (hereafter referred to as agency) shall apply the General Terms and Conditions to natural or legal persons (hereafter client) upon providing them legal services on the basis of a contract or other legal relationship. The agency shall mean all of the employees of the agency and subcontractors who cooperate with the agency. If there are any inconsistencies between the General Terms and Conditions and a contract entered into with a client, the latter shall be legally binding.
   • In addition to the General Terms and Conditions, the relationship between the parties is regulated by the laws of the Republic of Estonia, agreements entered into between the agency and the client (contracts), quotes and the principles of processing client data.
   • The headings of clauses in the General Terms and Conditions are only added for the purpose of reference and they do not affect in any manner the interpretation of the contents of the clauses. The clauses of the General Terms and Conditions are interpreted together with other clauses of the respective General Terms and Conditions, following the idea and purpose thereof and the mutual practice between the parties.

 

2. Legal services and information
   • Legal services (hereafter also referred to as service) shall mean any legal activity, incl. consultation and counselling, assessment, preparation of documents, contracts, letters, etc., representing the client in negotiations, transactions, out-of-court procedures and court actions and in front of other institutions or third parties.
   • The agency shall have the right to decide with whom to enter into a contract (the principle of contractual freedom).
   • The exact nature, volume, deadlines and price of the service shall be agreed separately upon the mutual decision of the parties. The agreement between the agency and the client shall be entered into orally, in writing or in any other form. Among other things, the existence of an oral agreement is proved by the partial or full payment of an invoice issued to the client or their representative. Good cooperation between the service provider and the client is a prerequisite for providing the client with the best legal services. The parties shall agree that good cooperation means that the client provides the agency with relevant, necessary and sufficient information (incl. instructions) and documents, incl. copies of documents, original documents or approved transcripts for the provision of the service (to fulfil the task). The agency shall have the right to demand that the client submit additional information and materials (incl. the original source documents) for further clarification of facts. The agency shall have the right to make copies of the documents. The agency shall assume that the documents and information submitted by the client are genuine, valid and correct.
   • The agency may demand the client that a document issued in a foreign country be legalised or certified by apostille. In the case of a document in a foreign language, the agency may demand an Estonian translation of the document from the client. Translations must be approved by a sworn translator where needed. The agency may organise the translation of documents upon agreement with the client.
   • The agency shall use its best professional knowledge and experience to provide the service, meeting all necessary due diligence requirements. When providing the service, the agency shall be impartial and follow applicable laws, best practices and customs. The service shall be provided to the extent of the authorisations given by the client in order to protect the client’s best interests in accordance with law. The agency shall not give the client unsolicited advice or advise them in questions for which the client has not provided the required information.
   • If the client does not cooperate with the agency, the latter shall have the right to suspend or cease service provision.

 

3. Client identification and legal capacity
   • The agency shall identify the client or the client’s representative, for which the latter is obliged to present their personal identification document (e.g. ID card, passport, driving licence or some other personal identification document that is in compliance with applicable laws) upon the agency’s request. The agency shall have the right to make a copy of the document. In the case of using a legal representative, the agency shall check the validity of the representative’s authorisations.
   • By ordering the service, the client confirms that they are at least 18 years old and have legal capacity. The agency assumes that the client has legal capacity. In case of doubt, the agency shall have the right to check it within their limits, incl. not to provide the service.

 

4. Fees and invoices
   • The agency and the client shall agree on the service fee on the basis of time, performance or as a fixed fee. The timely rate is calculated at 10-minute increments on the basis of time spent on providing the service. The timely rate can also be calculated on the basis of monthly or annual fees. Performance pay is part of the profit or percentage gained by the client as a result of the service provision, to which the agency is entitled. A fixed fee is a specific fee for a specific operation/service. The service fee is subject to VAT in the cases specified by law.
   • Quotes provided to the client are based on an analysis of the circumstances submitted to the agency, which cannot be regarded as an offer with a fixed fee unless otherwise explicitly agreed by the parties.
   • Expenses that arise from the operations made in the client’s interests, e.g. state and notary fees, translation fees, paid queries, expertise fees, communication or postal fees, transport fees (e.g. for meetings with the client or representing them at a court hearing) and other expenses that are beyond the service’s regular scope are added to the legal service fee.
   • If the service is provided in an administrative unit that does not include the location of the agency or its offices through which the agency usually provides their services, the agency shall have the right to demand a compensation of the costs of using a car to the extent of 0.3 euros per kilometre. Kilometres are calculated from the border of the settlement where the agency is located.
   • If the service is provided on weekends or public holidays at the client’s request, the service fee is doubled. A double service fee is applied depending on the nature of the service, which must be provided within two business days of the client’s request/giving the order to the agency (rush jobs).
   • The agency shall have the right to demand that the client make an advance payment for the service provided and/or reimbursable direct expenses before providing the service. If the client withdraws from the service after making the advance payment, but the agency has already started the provision of the service or if more than 14 calendar days have passed, the agency shall have the right to keep the advance payment (prohibition on right of withdrawal). If the agency has not started service provision or if fewer than 14 calendar days have passed, the agency shall return the advance payment in full. The withdrawal application must be submitted to the agency’s legal address or e-mailed to karlis.kolk@uusmaa.ee.
   • The payment for the service and reimbursement of expenses is conducted on the basis of invoices. If the client has any complaints about any of the items on the invoice, they are obliged to notify the agency of this within three days of receiving the invoice. In other cases, the client is considered to have accepted the invoice and all of its components, incl. the due date and sanctions (interest and interest rate).
   • The due date is generally 7 to 10 calendar days from the invoice’s date of issue, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. Upon failure to pay the invoice in time, the client is obliged to pay interest from the outstanding amount in the amount indicated on the invoice for each day of delay.
   • If the client has an outstanding financial obligation towards the agency that exceeds 32 euros and it has been more than 30 calendar days since the claim became recoverable, the agency shall have the right to forward the client’s details and information about the debt to Creditinfo Estonia AS. The client data processed in the payment default register maintained by Creditinfo Estonia AS, data processing terms and conditions and the bases and scope of data forwarding can be viewed at krediidiinfo.ee.

 

5. Communication
   • The parties shall communicate in Estonian or another agreed language.
   • The parties shall generally forward personal messages, data, information, invoices, etc., electronically (via e-mail) unless expressly agreed otherwise. The agency shall also publish general information on its website (www.uusmaa.ee).
   • The agency shall forward contract-related messages (incl. invoices) to the client via e-mail. The e-mail address is the address that the client has presented as their contact address and/or that the parties have previously used for communication. The client is obliged to immediately notify the agency of any changes in their address. The agency’s current contact details are published on its website at www.uusmaa.ee. A notice or an invoice is regarded as delivered to another party via e-mail once 24 hours have passed since the forwarding of the notice or invoice.
   • If the client has sent the agency an e-mail and they have not received confirmation of receipt within 24 hours, the agency recommends that the client confirm the receipt of important e-mails over the phone.

 

6. Liability
   • The agency is not obliged to verify the authenticity and integrity of the information and materials entrusted to them by the client. The agency shall not be liable for the validity of the data submitted by the client or the unfavourable consequences to the client caused by invalid information or the lack of required instructions.
   • The agency shall not be liable for the consequences of the client’s independent decisions. The agency may limit the liability in the case of certain tasks by using clarifying and restrictive disclaimers.
   • The agency shall not be liable for any damage caused by the agency’s unawareness of the lack of a legal person’s passive legal capacity or a natural person’s limited legal capacity.
   • The agency shall not be liable for the quality of services mediated by them that are performed by third parties (e.g. translation services).
   • If the agency should breach the General Terms and Conditions or the contract and thus cause direct damage to the client’s property, the agency shall be obliged to compensate it only if it was caused by the agency’s gross negligence or intent. In the event of damage caused by gross negligence or intentionally, the agency’s liability shall be limited to the amount to the extent of which the agency provided the service to the client. The agency shall not be liable for any damage caused by the client’s loss of earnings or cessation of the client’s activities.
   • The client shall be liable for any expenses and/or damage caused by their acts and/or omissions and that have caused the agency economic damage.

 

7. Term of Contract
   • The contract remains valid until the end of the service provision (until the task is fulfilled, incl. until the out-of-court or court proceedings have ended).
   • The client and the agency shall have the right to terminate the contract at any time by notifying the other party at least 10 calendar days in advance in a format reproducible in writing.
   • The agency shall have the right to refuse to fulfil their contractual obligations and/or terminate the contract without following the notification requirements if they have a good reason for doing so, above all in a situation where the agency cannot be expected to continue with providing the service, incl. if:
     • a conflict of interests occurs during service provision;
     • the client does not fulfil their contractual obligations, e.g. if the payment of an invoice is more than five calendar days overdue or if the client delays payments at least three times within one year or violates some other contractual requirement, e.g. fails to cooperate with the agency in completing the task;
     • the negotiations between the agency and the client result in a failure to agree on the payment;
     • the client is in financial difficulties or subject to bankruptcy proceedings;
     • the client submits falsified documents;
     • the client is suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing;
     • the client demands that the agency use tools or measures that are in conflict with laws or measures that may damage the agency’s honour and integrity.
   • Termination of the contract or service provision shall not forfeit the agency’s right to receive payment and compensation of expenses related to services provided and expenses incurred.

 

8. Consumer surety

The parties may enter into a contract of consumer surety as a liability guarantee.

 

9. Confidentiality
   • The relationship between the agency and the client is based on trust. Information (incl. personal data) of which the agency has become aware in the course of providing the service and which is not available from public sources is completely confidential.
   • Disclosure of confidential data to third parties is only allowed with the client’s permission and if disclosure of data is required for or related to providing the service to the client or if the client instructs the agency to involve third parties or agrees to third parties being involved (e.g. notaries, auditors, bailiffs, interpreters, banks, persons in public law and lawyers).
   • The client undertakes not to disclose to any third parties, without the agency’s prior written consent, the terms and conditions of the contract entered into with the agency or any information received from the agency of which they would not have become aware without entering into the contract.

 

10. Principles of processing client data
    • Processing means any operation performed with personal data, incl. collection, recording, storage, amendment, making queries, forwarding, providing access, etc.
    • A client shall mean a natural or legal person who uses, has used, has expressed the wish to use the agency’s services or are otherwise related to it.
    • Client data shall mean any information that the agency holds about the client or their representatives. Personal data shall mean the data that are directly or indirectly related to the client who is a natural person.
    • The data can be obtained directly from the client or indirectly (e.g. from public and private registers, social media channels, Internet or other public channels).
    • The agency mainly collects and processes personal identification data (name, personal identification code, date of birth, personal identification document data, incl. that of a passport, ID card or a copy of a driving licence), contact details (addresses, phone numbers, e-mail and Facebook addresses), family data (data on the client’s family), data on the client’s ties to legal persons, workplace and education data, financial data (account statements, obligations and income), asset data (e.g. immovable properties, units and shares), data obtained in the course of court proceedings, data obtained in the course of performing legal obligations (e.g. data from bailiffs’ queries, data related to notary transactions and data obtained from tax administrators, courts and investigative bodies) and data and circumstances revealed to the agency in the course of service provision (hereafter data).
    • The agency mainly processes data in order to enter into contracts with clients, perform these contracts, provide services and manage client relationships, but also to prove, comply with and protect the legal requirements that are based on the performance of the contract and obligations or the agency’s justified interest for complying with legal requirements. The data is also processed for analysis and in order to exercise the rights and perform the obligations arising from law in Estonia.
    • The data may be shared with other parties, for instance, debt collectors in the event of assignment of claims, courts, trustees in bankruptcy, bailiffs and insolvency administrators.
    • The data submitted to the agency are protected and processed pursuant to the requirements of the Personal Data Protection Act. The agency shall not disclose the data it has become aware of to any third parties, except to the extent it is required for providing the service or comply with the requirements of supervisory authorities.
    • The client consents to data processing. The client can retract their consent to personal data processing at any time. The retraction of consent does not have retroactive force.
    • The data is only processed by the agency.
    • The agency may authorise other legal persons (data processors) to process personal data on the condition that a contract is entered into with such a processor, according to which the data processor is obliged to maintain the confidentiality of the personal data processed and ensure the protection of personal data according to the requirements prescribed by law.
    • The agency shall retain clients’ personal data only as long as it is necessary in the case of the collected personal data and required by law. The agency shall preserve invoice-related data in accordance with the Estonian accounting and taxation acts for seven years as of their submission to the agency. Data on any legal transactions between the agency and the client may, in accordance with the general prescription term established to civil claims in the General Part of the Civil Code Act, be preserved for ten years as of their submission to the agency.
    • The client shall have the right to lodge complaints about the processing of personal data with the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (aki.ee).

 

11. Amendment of general terms and conditions
    • The agency shall have the right to unilaterally amend the General Terms and Conditions at any time. Any transaction is subject to the terms and conditions valid at the time of the transaction. The current version of the General Terms and Conditions is available on the agency’s website at www.uusmaa.ee. If the client does not agree to the updated General Terms and Conditions, they may terminate the contract according to the provisions of clause 7.2.

 

12. Final provisions
    • In the regulation of their mutual relations, the parties shall be guided above all by the principles of good faith and reasonableness and laws of the Republic of Estonia.
    • The parties shall seek to resolve any disagreements and disputes arising between them by way of negotiations. Any complaints must be forwarded via e-mail to karlis.kolk@uusmaa.ee. If the negotiations yield no results, the disputes shall be resolved in the Harju County Court or the Consumer Disputes Committee of the Consumer Protection Board. Consumer complaints can also be submitted via the consumer complaint submission platform at komisjon.ee.

Karlis Kolk, Uus Maa Kinnisvarabüroo lawyer