Pulling out of an unconditional contract

My partner and I have signed a contract to purchase an apartment. Everything up till finance has been sorted and we're on the home stretch.

We signed the loan offer with the bank and therefore made our contract unconditional.
The bank has now come back and informed us that there's been some issues with the offer we signed, and we'll now incur extra fees and a new offer will have to be signed as the last one is now voided. Catch is, they haven't even told us how much these fees will be, and we have to sign a form to allow them to take WHATEVER amount they need from our loan.
On the other hand, we've now got our settlement date booked in that will not be met in time which is the other issue. For every day over the settlement we owe the seller approx $150 as layed out in our contract. And as our contract is unconditional now we can not pull out without forfeiting our 10% deposit.

If we pull out now, can the seller sue us for damages as well as take our deposit? I'm just trying to sort out the options at hand and work out what's better for us financially, losing the deposit or potentially paying a myriad of unknown fees to the bank and not even being able to afford the apartment and being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Any help appreciated!
 
In Queensland you have to settle by the set date or they can take your 10% deposit. Unlikely that the bank fees would be so exorbitant so just wait and see, don't do anything rash.
 
On the simple side, you've signed a contract and informed the vendors that it's unconditional, you have to settle or be liable for the 10% deposit plus damages as you've indicated.

Given there's a problem with the contract, there may be some recourse on the solicitors or conveyancers involved if the due diligence wasn't performed property.

Realistically though, you probably want to simply get on with solving the problem as quickly as possible and settling the property. Odds are the fees are only a few hundred dollars. In the grand scheme of things, that plus a few days penalty interest is not the end of the world and a lot better than loosing a 10% deposit.

What is the actual problem?
 
How bad can the bank fee be? Just pay the fee and keep moving.

You have very little options here, I am guessing that a 10% deposit that you would lose would be hundreds of times greater than any bank fee.

Is there something more to the story we are missing?
 
If the contract was subject to finance and your bank said they made a mistake and you don't have finance then you need to know why. I am surprised they made you a finance offer and then have effectively rescinded it. Unless there is some other change in circumstances this very rarely happens.

How much time has elapsed between getting the offer and it being voided?
 
Thanks for all your replies. We just received an update from the bank this morning, and apparently they lodged our application and approval under a completely wrong title (we're buying under company title, then did all the paperwork for a strata title).
So apparently now we are not even unconditionally approved, and we have to go through the entire finance process again. I'm not sure if we have any legal ground to stand on as the bank had given us unconditional finance approval, and have now officially withdrawn it. This process is estimated to take another month and the seller does not like he wants to extend the settlement date any further.
It has been 4 weeks since we were initially unconditionally approve from the bank. The settlement date has already been extended twice.
 
if I was you I'd be speaking with a solicitor to see what recourse is available via the bank, as they seem to be in the wrong here. Do you have a solicitor doing your settlement?
 
Seems like the broker/banker didn't make the bank aware that it was a company title so a desktop valuation must've been done and then the solicitors found it out at the last minute....you better get this hurried up then.
 
Simply settle as soon as you're able. Get onto the phone to your conveyancer and ask them to inform the vendor that settlement might be slightly delayed and to explain why. The vendor will likely charge penalty interest which you should then ask the bank to compensate you for.
 
Your solicitor should be providing specific advice to you on this and their advice should be included in the fees you are already paying for the purchase.

There may be an out or loophole in the contract

If you don't settle the seller can get your deposit, resell the property and hold you liable for agents commission, legal fees, advertising and any amount the new sale price is lower than the contract you signed is.
 
From your description if you are buying an apartment in a company title, you are not actually buying an apartment instead you are buying shares in a company with a right to reside in a particular part of the building owned by the company.

You should be talking to your solicitor. If it is company title you need to be approved by the board of the company.

As a general rule (or at least in the past) company title sells at a discount to strata title as banks would lend less and the rules of the company would also mean that any tenant would need to be approved by the board.

Acompany title would not normally be able to be dealt with by a simple land offer and acceptance as it is much more complex. See your solicitor urgently.

Some states like Victoria had an amalgam of company title and strata title called (in victoria) stratum title - which was a strata title forbthe flat and a company for the body corporate.
 
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