A friend is in the following situation:
His IP became vacant so he contacted an agent to get it rented out, he then decided he wanted to sell it vacant through another agent. The original agent then claimed they had given verbal agreement to a renter and had accepted one months rent in advance.
Is this binding or is the first agent just being difficult as he decided to sell with another agent? No lease has been signed by either party.
Can anyone point me to a source of legal rules regarding this?
thanks
My guess is that it is not binding until the tenancy agreement is signed, I would have thought that would be signed with the collection of the bond.
Best place to look would be the RTA which you can find here:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/rta1997207/index.html
The letting agent cannot act on the owner's behalf until the owner has signed an agency agreement (for leasing the property). If the agent doesn't have one, they cannot get paid their letting commission BUT can also be investigated by fair trading for not having an agency agreement in place.
If on the other hand, there is a valid agency agreement, then unless the owner has withdrawn or signalled their intention to terminate the agreement, then the agent was acting under the owners instructions – which was to lease the property. As the tenant had not yet signed a lease, it may still be possible to withdraw (if the agent had to seek the owner's consent to the nominated tenant).
contracts for land are not binding unless in writing – generally.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
http://www.Structuring.com.au
Email MeLawyer, Mortgage Broker and Tax Advisor (Sydney based but advising Aust wide) http://www.Structuring.com.au
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