All Topics / Legal & Accounting / Caveats and their hopfeul removal

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Profile photo of rainydazerainydaze
    Participant
    @rainydaze
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 7

    Hi all,
    Does anybody have experience with having caveats removed from their properties?

    I've been researching about caveats as I'm completely clueless about exactly what they are, do and how to remove them. My basic understanding is that they stop the sale of a property until they are released by the caveat placer usually through payment of a debt? I'm hoping some people on here may be able to help me with the info that I need!

    Currently I've had two caveats placed on my property. One by a solicitor and the other by my creedit union.

    There are a couple of sob stories involved with both caveats, but I'll try not to bore you with them for now, unless they are needed!

    The first caveat placed by the solicitor (who is based in NSW), was placed on my property in Tasmania for fee's owed. I feel as though I was blackmailed and forced to sign under great duress (one hour before court or he would cease to represent) to allow him to place the caveat on my property. I was very naive at the time and had no idea what I was really signing, and even though I requested the opportunity to seek further legal advice, he said I couldn't…. (I was lied to by this solicitor and promised many things but in the end, on the day of court he told me he hadn't even prepared for our case…)

    The second caveat was placed by my credit union when I fell behind on repayments for my personal loan due to redundancy and a few other issues. I also have a homeloan for the said property with this credit union ( have kept up with homeloan repayments though!). Does this mean they have a right to place a caveat on my home?

    So does anybody have any ideas or experience with removing caveats such as these that they could share with me?

    I have no idea if I have any legal standings to have them removed. For the solicitor I was thinking that because I was forced to sign under great duress this may be grounds to have it removed?
    For the credit union I was thinking because the personal loan has nothing to do with my property I may have grounds to have it removed?

    Otherwise I was hoping that they may not bother defending the caveats in court as it would be to costly? (Especially for the solicitor based in NSW?)

    If they did successfully defend, would this make me liable for their legal costs???

    I really have no idea what to do, and I can't afford a solicitor at this point in time… and wouldn't know of one that I feel I could trust either after my last encounter with one!

    I hope some of you guys can help us out!

    Thank you for your time!

    Profile photo of kong71286kong71286
    Participant
    @kong71286
    Join Date: 2009
    Post Count: 261

    I'm not a lawyer, but based on the vague information you have posted, I believe the law is currently on the side of the Solicitor and the Credit Union, and there is no strong case for the removal of the Caveat. Even if you were forced to sign under great duress, what evidence do you have of this, and would this evidence hold in court? With regards to the credit union, I assume that you had a written agreement that would allow them to lodge a caveat on your property in order for you to secure a loan, and you signed this document to get your personal loan.

    I hate to be the bad guy and break the bad news to you, but the best thing for you to do to have the caveat removed is to repay the money you owe the solicitor and the credit union – taking things to court may not be the best option as it could cost more than the cost to repay your creditors (not only money wise, but time wise as well) and you may not win the case

    Profile photo of TerrywTerryw
    Participant
    @terryw
    Join Date: 2001
    Post Count: 16,213

    You would have given the solicitor and the CU an interest in your property so as to enable them to put a writ on the property. This was probably drafted into the agreements you signed.

    Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
    http://www.Structuring.com.au
    Email Me

    Lawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.