Oh for petes sake....... now its a caveat.

[Asashoryu]

Well here we go again, this IP in South Hedland is turning into a major pain in the backside. Settlement was after many delays finally set for Fri 5 Feb, that morning I get a call from my settlement agent telling me its now moved back to hopefully Mon 8 Feb as there is a Caveat on the property. Seems the vendor knew about it but "forgot" or neglected to mention it to his settlement agent.
Well, Monday rolled around and now its been pushed back to Fri 12 Feb as the Caveat hasnt been dealt with as yet. I have been given the option of penalising him to the tune of $160 per day but I thought I would be the nice guy and let it ride, but if we dont settle on 12 Feb then penalties kick in and are backdated to 5 Feb.....
Just wondering what else can go wrong now......lol.
Seems the Caveat is not "financial" according to my agent, so what other reasons could there be?

 

[Ausprop]

ask your settlement agent to search the caveat and fax/email it to you. you have a right to know.

 

[the helix]

Is the caveat new, or has it been there for a while? I find it hard to believe that your agent and his agent planned for settlement without knowing about a caveat.

If it's been there for more than three months, the caveat MAY have lapsed. I say may, as there are ways to prevent a caveat from lapsing.

You're paying them to handle your conveyance, so your agent should really know the ins and outs of the system. Are they just sitting back and waiting for something to happen or are they approaching the vendor's agent for updates?

 

[Deena]

I would not be nice, I would fine him.

 

[rstephenp]

Quick backout

is it another way the vendor wants you to backout by annoying u off? Maybe he has got a better offer?

 

[willair]

. I have been given the option of penalising him to the tune of $160 per day but I thought I would be the nice guy and let it ride, but if we dont settle on 12 Feb then penalties kick in and are backdated to 5 Feb.....

Look at it like this,if it was the other way around what do you think they would do??nice guys don't last long in the real world,you signed a contract,it works both ways..willair..

 

[Aaron Sice]

no offence - but f**k him - he's neglected to mention a caveat, stalling the settlement period in a jittery financial arena?

slap him, and HARD.

 

[Propertunity]

no offence - but f**k him - he's neglected to mention a caveat, stalling the settlement period in a jittery financial arena?

slap him, and HARD.

I have to agree. There are no nice guys in contract law - only guys that get walked all over.

 

[Terryw]

Your lawyer should have detected the caveat when doing the searches - unless it was lodged after you exchanged.

 

[Asashoryu]

Hmm, you all make very valid and good points. As for when the caveat was placed that I am not sure about. My settlement agent did all the searches back when this started so I can only assume its been a recently placed one. The vendor didnt mention it to his agent until the day of settlement when it was found (5 Feb).
As for my SA, I can only really praise their work on this deal, they have been in my eyes, outstanding, and have done all and more I asked of them. They have been very pro-active.
Maybe I should have taken him for the penalty but hey, I was being a little nice. We have both had our turns at stuffing each other around a bit and enough variations to drop a few trees have gone around so I cut him some slack. Mind you, if it doesnt go down tomorrow then he cops the penalties and has no-one to blame but himself. Its already written in so I wont be stopping it.
As for the post re him hoping I will back out in hopes of a higher offer....I know he has already tried playing hardball in the hope I would back off and he was relisting for 700k instead of the 650k I am paying. As a few agents have told me up there, even at 700k he would sell it easily.
I will however seek more info on the caveat from my SA in the morning, and also see if its been cleared.

 

[redwing]

Caveat = Beware

The lodging of a caveat on a property, tells anyone who wants to deal with that property to be aware that someone else has priority

More information required by yourself

 

[Ausprop]

there are also a lot of jokers around who lodge caveats when they shouldn't and cause a whole lot of grief

 

[the helix]

Caveat = Beware

The lodging of a caveat on a property, tells anyone who wants to deal with that property to be aware that someone else has priority

Just because someone lodges a caveat, does not mean they have priority. The caveat is there so the court can decide if they have priority. A lot of caveators back down and remove it though, because they don't want to go to court.. they just wanted to throw a spanner into the works.

there are also a lot of jokers around who lodge caveats when they shouldn't and cause a whole lot of grief

I guess this depends on your definition of "when they shouldn't". If someone is purpously doing it to screw with a settlement, in Queensland, the Vendor has recourse too. The vendor (and anyone else involved) have the protection of S130(1) of the Land Title Act 1994 (QLD). If the caveat is just thrown on by a joker without reason, and really messes the Vendor around, he can (you know... if his agents/lawyers are on the ball...) take the Caveator to court for his (and your) expenses.

 

[Ausprop]

he can (you know... if his agents/lawyers are on the ball...) take the Caveator to court for his (and your) expenses.

so goes the theory, but in practice if you are having caveat disputes whilst trying to settle a property the chances are you are on borrowed time with the banks and the last thing cashflow and time allows is a 2 year discussion at $300 an hour about the rights and wrongs of it

 

[Gools]

Asashoryu, any news for us today?
Just been reading your dramas. Hang in there, sounds like the end result will be worth it. You snagged that property under market value, now real it in as best you can.

All the best,

Gools

 

[Asashoryu]

Definitely got some news, the property settled yesterday, Fri 12 Feb. Seems the caveat wasnt enough to stop things happening and got it removed. I asked about getting info on it and it was certainly something I was allowed/able to do but in the end I didnt worry about it since all the good stuff happened.
My better half was actually disappointed it settled, she wanted to hit him with penalties ......what have I unleashed in her?

I contacted the Pt Hedland manager of the company thats renting it, seems really quite down to earth and had actually been looking at the property himself as an investment before I got in. He had no problems detailing the companies attitude to their staff not looking after a place, they just made one guy unemployed because he wasnt looking after the property he was in (no, wasnt mine). As such we are going to forgo a PM and instead do it ourselves.

I was also informed that my first chore is a new stove, seems the previous owner made himself very hard to contact and didnt return the companies calls re getting a new stove. Ah well, these things happen. Still, I am very happy with the purchase and yes, it looks like its already gone up in value.