Hi guys
Long story short my dad recently inherited his twin brothers estate. He is selling the property which is scheduled to settle in 2 weeks. A possible jealous neighbor may have dobbed him into council stating that the buildings were constructed illegally some 35 years ago. It’s been an emotional time leading up to the sale for my dad and he is at breaking point. I’d like to know:
– is this at all possible after such a long time? My uncle has lived there for over 3 decades.
– if there is no clause in the contract of sale and the buyers lawyers didn’t check/find anything in there DD, do they legally have to settle?This has been totally sprung on my dad out of the blue, it seems extremely irrational and unfair for such a decision to be made given the time frame. He is speaking to his lawyer first thing and potentially his TP.
Any advice would be extremely grateful.
Sash
I looked at buying a house once and the back corner of the house was very close to the fence line. After investigation it turned out the house was never passed by council. I pulled out. The solicitor rang me a month later to say it had been passed but I had already put a deposit on another house.
I'd say (unless there are major defects) that council will pass the buildings. So did they actually say thet'll pull them down? Can he rectify any illegal parts?Good luck.
Would depend on the terms of the contract. Possibly buyer would be locked in.
Terryw | Structuring Lawyers Pty Ltd / Loan Structuring Pty Ltd
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Hi guys
Council have already been out, assessed the property and now written the letter of intent. I thought that if it were built over a certain period of years then it didn’t matter?
I don’t think there was a clause as such for these matters, I’m unsure of the fine print. I guess the only thing to do is speak to the lawyer?
Thanks. Any other experiences/advice would be great.
It’s amazing what the Council can do if they want to.
Some time back, my local council in Sydney were awarded a court judgement against my builder for illegal “building” , because he internally divided a huge already approved garage into several rooms without a DA. They issued me a notice to demolish the partitions or they’d enter my home and demolish the partitions themselves. I said I’d shoot the first council demolition man to set foot in my home, so they offered me a compromise – I remove 50% of the partitions and they’d waive the demolition order. So what does that tell you about Councils and their integrity and options and mood swings if they feel like it on a good day ?
Cheers
thecrestthecrest | Tony Neale - Statewide Motel Brokers
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Sash,
Have you solved the problem?
If not, do you need some help?thecrest wrote:It's amazing what the Council can do if they want to. ……………. I said I'd shoot the first council demolition man to set foot in my home, so they offered me a compromise……….. Cheers thecrestAh Crest…absolutely brilliant! Love your style – made me laugh out loud – ridiculous 'change of heart (?) by the council but.
Cheers
Hi Christian,
It appears nothing can be done. The property has to settle tomorrow. Buyers have the right to rescind the sale. They want the price dropped by 40%. my dad does not feel that he can take on the council and doesn’t want another battle where he’ll have to pay ridiculous amounts to TP’s etc. It’s been a nightmare.
Sash,
It seems the purchasers may be exploiting the situation, which is unfortunate.
Should the purchasers rescind, the problem still exists.
In my experience, and yes I have dealt with similar situations, the council simply wants a resolution.
I sincerely hope it works out, and again if I can assist, get in touch.
Are you sure the buyers are not the ones to call the council to get the property cheaper, if the buyers are still keen then maybe there plan is to build on the property and maybe they called council, a 40% drop is a lot
40% is ridiculous, they are clearly taking you for a ride. If I were in your position, I would let the contract fall through, get a planner like Christain to help you sort out the problem with the council, and then put the house on the market again.
Cheers,
LukeI agree with Luke…..
Sash, sorry to hear that you are having such issues! The fact that they now want you to reduce the price by 40% sounds completely outrageous. What have you done about this?
Tell the buyer to p… off. Take over the sale from your Dad and relieve him of the stress, then contact Christian at Design & Build or someone like him that can represent you to council
Ian
Block Head @ http://www.theblockblog.com
Free Property Investment Info, Tools & Resources for Switched On InvestorsSash, what state are you in?
If its NSW I could probably help you out a bit more.
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