Hi,
I'm not sure if any of you have had this experience but this is quite stressing me out.
The settlement date was set on the 19th Dec 07 on the contract, but the vendor choses to delay it for insignificant reasons. The vendor is on overseas and she said she cannot come to Australia because of her visa problem. So far I concern you do not really need to. But still she has to clean the property, take all the stuffs out, by all means via friends, relatives or a professional removal. Secondly she should provide all the signatures on the documents with her solicitor and agent through mails.
Today is the 27th and she has not done yet. I wonder why… I cannot settle mainly because 1 the property is not cleaned/ emptied, 2 because her mortgage has not been discharged, just because she has not signed the document. I wonder why…
Now my question is: is there anything I can do? At the moment I'm on a renting property, a 3 bedroom apartment which all of us agree to vacate the property by the end of this month! Knowing the settlement was gonna be on the 19th I have 10+ days to move to a new property, a plenty of time, but I certainly did not prepare this.
Can I claim the vendor to compensate me an additional cost living in this 3 br apartment? How? that is triple the rent. >.<
So much to ask for a festive season.
Cheers,
blaze
Hi Blaze
A vendor has the same responsibilities to settle as the purchaser does and in the event that you are unable to settle you should get your Solicitor to advise them that you intend to charge default interest as per the contract.
In addition, look at specific perforance remedies.
You could of course terminate the contract and then renogotiate at a lower sale price or merely walk away and buy something else.
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
Thank Richard.
I really dont want to terminate the contract. I've been looking for this 1st home for quite some times. Thinking to go through the process all over again… oh no.
What is the default interest as per contract you mention? And performance remedies? I assume they are on the contract of sale, which I do not have it at the moment. It is on my conveyor. What would happened if the vendor chose to ignore it anyway? She is at the moment ignoring the settlement date as we say.
I just dont get it she seems to be not that keen to sell it, but why would she sign the contract of sale in the 1st place… this is weird.
Oh sorry for venting
Yes where is your solicitor in all this Blaze? They must be an incompetent lot. I'd be wanting recompense for all my rent.
Hi Qlds007
My understanding was that purchasers are unable to charge default interest if the vendor delays settlement. At least that's the case in SA and the NT. Blaze, you would have to look at the specific contract, or, as others have pointed out, get your conveyancer to look at the contract.
Certainly in SA and the NT, the only remedy a purchaser has is to terminate the contract for lack of specific performance, under which circumstances you would be entitled to get your deposit back. There is no entitlement to compensation for late settlement. The only way you could seek compensation is to take the vendor to court for breach of contract, which would be an expensive and time consuming process and not worth it, in my experience.
Incidentally, while you are entitled to vacanc possession of the property, that is, all the vendor's belongings have to be removed, there is no requirement for her to clean the property (apart from maintaining it in the same condition as when you signed the contract) unless specifically stated in the contract.
I know it is frustrating but there's not a great deal you can do about it. I have been in this situation several times before, both as a vendor and as a purchaser. My bank is not very good at settlement when it comes to be selling properties. All I have been able to do in that situation is to apologise to the purchaser and explain the delay.
Cheers
K
No such remedy – take it on the chin. Solicitor has to serve notice to complete after the vendor delays the settlement for 14 days then they have a further period of ?? days to complete the contract. You never know, the vendor may be waiting on vp of a 3 bedroom unit where the current tenant is waiting for settlement of their new house.
I've been in this situation and my legal advice was that, unfortunately, the contract in QLD only imposes (or imposed at that time) performance penalties on the buyer for not settling on time, but not on the seller!
Definitely seek legal advice; your lawyer should be "all over" this. If you're using one of those conveyancing mega-factories rather than a solicitor, then that would explain the lack of action and is one of the reasons that these places are a bad idea, IMHO.Don't let it drag on – and update us on how things are going!
Regards,
Tracey in Brisbane
Definitely seek legal advice; your lawyer should be "all over" this. If you're using one of those conveyancing mega-factories rather than a solicitor, then that would explain the lack of action and is one of the reasons that these places are a bad idea, IMHO.You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
