Late settlement

[july]

Hi
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Can someone please advise me.
If settlement is delayed by the vendors and you are not moving into the said property yourself or have tenants waiting to commence their lease then there is nothing you can do. However if the purchaser delays settlement then the vendors can charge you interest????
CONFUSED!!!!!

 

[Joe D]

Not sure about Victoria , but in WA with the Offer and Acceptance type contracts it works both way. Normally there is about a 3-day leeway before the interest charges can become applicable.
Rgds
Joe D

 

[july]

The vendors have now booked in settlement to proceed tomorrow, although no actual repair works have been carried out on the property. I am quite anxious about the possible hidden agenda of the vendors, my conveyancer says that we do not have a great amount of leverage, is it time for a solicitor? Can anyone recommend a solicitor who has experience in property law. We find it difficult to believe that we are in such a powerless position. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated at this eleventh hour.
Thanks, help.................

 

[asy]

REFUSE TO SETTLE!!!!!

The house is NOT in the same condition as when you signed for it.

You are within your rights not to settle...

if your conveyancer is saying you must settle, I think it might be time to either pressure them or talk to someone else...

asy

 

[brains]

I had a similar (i think) experience recently:

I purchased 2 properties at one time in QLD. The vendor of one of the properties said he would be willing to rent the property from me for one year @ $185/wk. (verbal only). the condition of this property was apalling, a total mess but he agreed to a clause in the contract to clean it up and make good before settlement.

Anyway at the last minute, he split and left the property as a mess, thinking he is still going to settle. I advised my solicitor to with hold $3000 from the purchase price to clean the property up after settlement (these were the only conditions i would settle on)
and the vendor flatly refused.

I advised my solicitor to cancel the settlement, i then contacted my bank and told them we were not settling on one of the houses and they replied that we were settling on both houses or none as the loan was for both properties and it was too late to change the paperwork (4 hours to settlement).

So now i had to buy the property because i really wanted the other one (it was a great deal) so it was bluff time.

If the vendor knew i couldnt cancel the settlement he could have stood his ground and screwed me.

We spent the next few hours negotiating an amount of money to withhold from the purchese price, and one hour before settlement he agreed to $2000 because he thought the sale was going to fall through.

It was just enough to clean the property up before tennants but i lost a couple of weeks rent in the process, My solicitor said i could make a claim for this but i couldnt be bothered.

Just goes to show what some people are like...i couldnt believe that someone would act like this. His whole story was a lie from the start so he wouldnt have to clean his place up.

 

[Aceyducey]

July,

I hope this works out alright for you.

We generally modify the contract to ensure we get interest if the seller delays settlement, we don't mind the seller including a clause for them to get interest if we are late so long as it is mutual. If you or your solicitor didn't pick up that this was one sided (check your contract!!) then there probably isn't much you can do about this specific bit.

Asy has a good point, you should also reread the contract. It should clearly state what the vendor's responsibility is and how soon you can start issuing penalties such as interest or nixing the deal altogether.

If it doesn't you're going to need a new solicitor next time you buy an investment property, and I suggest you do more research yourself into the types of penalty clauses are commonly used to guard against sellers (or buyers) being unco-operative and solicitors not protecting you adequately.

We got burnt once with a property where the condition changed before purchase , so you're not alone, (the contract stated as is & it was not possible to prove a change in condition).

Unfortunately sometimes you can only consider it a learning experience

Cheers,

Aceyducey

BTW: Don't listen to your conveyancer - they just want it settled, otherwise they don't get their money. Contact your solicitor to see if you have leverage!