This is a letter I have just sent my solicitor who is the senior partner in a mob I've been using for conveyancing in Rocky- the person you'll read about who I liased with is not a solicitor but looks after their conveyancing - thoughts/opinions welcome...
Mr XXXXXXX,
I am a client of your business, and have liased with XXXXXX - firstly on the successful settlement of a house at XXXXXXX, and then on the not so successful settlement of another at XXXXX. Please bear with me because I'm very disappointed in how it has turned out, and am hoping other settlements I use your business for aren't as bad.
I am not sure if you're in the loop as to what happened with XXXXXXXX, so I'll try and give you a time line.
Last Tuesday - was supposed to be the day the contract went unconditional, buyer's solicitor contacted XXXXX via fax advising they weren't happy with building inspection because store room under the house wasn't council approved. Stated they'd consider the report satisfactory if I obtained a council permit for the room and if I paid for a pile of branches in the back yard to be taken away.
Last Wednesday - XXXX rang me at 4.30pm to ask me my thoughts on the fax, which at this stage I wasn't aware even existed, due to it not coming through on my email. I was busy at the time producing a television news bulletin for that night so I couldn't really give the matter much thought until 6.30pm.
Last Thursday - Since I was rostered on for a late start at work, I thought I'd use the morning to chase up information re: obtaining approval to gauge costs etc. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday in Rockhampton so it was a bit of a battle. Spoke to XXXXX and the real estate agent from XXXXX re: the problem, the agent promised to look into it for me. At this point I was worried I'd be up for a lot of money to raise the house.
Last Friday - Agent gets in touch with me in the morning, telling me it won't cost much at all to obtain approval and that house doesn't need to be raised. This is good, and since I want the house sold, I decide to go ahead and try to inform XXXX I'm happy to get council approval, as well as having the leaves removed. Unfortunately, it's a battle getting hold of XXXXX to inform the buyer's solicitor of my decision, and in the meantime, a fax is sent from the buyers solicitor indicating they want to terminate the contract since they haven't heard from us. Both XXXXX and agent speak to buyers' solicitor who agrees to again talk to buyer. From what I'm told, XXXXX notified the solicitor of my willingness to deal with their concerns. I'm a bit annoyed at this point, because I've had so little time to investigate my options.
Monday this week - Seemingly happy with the arrangement, buyer talks with agent, asking him to evict tenants so she can move in with her daughter. Then, at around 2pm, I receive a phone call from agent saying he's received notification from buyer's solicitor they want to walk away altogether. Agent later speaks to buyer, who informs him that her daughter drove past the house and didn't like it. I spoke to XXXXX, who informs me the buyer has won and I have no recourse.
The reason I am so disappointed and bordering on angry, is because the REIQ contract says the buyer has to act reasonably in regards to building inspection reports, which she clearly didn't. The games that followed are deplorable, in my opinion, and I don't see why people should be able to walk away from a legal contract on what is essentially a whim.
Also, due to XXXX emailing me notification of their requests on the Tuesday, and me not being aware of it until late on the Wednesday afternoon, I lost valuable time, I can't answer questions like "So, this is what they want, what are you going to do?" without having a chance to do my homework and see what my options are. I can't help but feel that if she had have notified me via a phone call as soon as she knew, then this whole mess could have been averted, not to mention the fact Thursday was a public holiday so I lost even more time. The security wall at my work wouldn't let the email through, so there was no way of me knowing it was there. For all XXXX knew I could have been on a few days off, at home sick, whatever. She should have rang me, but really, that's neither here nor there now.
I gave myself a few days to mull this situation over, and am in the dark as to what my options are. The agent thinks I should hang onto the paltry $300 deposit under clause 9 of the contract, and then pursue the buyer for any difference if the eventual sale is less than $XXXX (the sale price agreed to).
I know my matter is a conveyancing gone bad, but at the end of the day, I'm paying for a service, and am not certain that my interests have been looked after adequately. If you could let me know in writing what options I have, if any, and a guesstimate of the cost, I would be most appreciative.
Thanks
XXXXX
Mr XXXXXXX,
I am a client of your business, and have liased with XXXXXX - firstly on the successful settlement of a house at XXXXXXX, and then on the not so successful settlement of another at XXXXX. Please bear with me because I'm very disappointed in how it has turned out, and am hoping other settlements I use your business for aren't as bad.
I am not sure if you're in the loop as to what happened with XXXXXXXX, so I'll try and give you a time line.
Last Tuesday - was supposed to be the day the contract went unconditional, buyer's solicitor contacted XXXXX via fax advising they weren't happy with building inspection because store room under the house wasn't council approved. Stated they'd consider the report satisfactory if I obtained a council permit for the room and if I paid for a pile of branches in the back yard to be taken away.
Last Wednesday - XXXX rang me at 4.30pm to ask me my thoughts on the fax, which at this stage I wasn't aware even existed, due to it not coming through on my email. I was busy at the time producing a television news bulletin for that night so I couldn't really give the matter much thought until 6.30pm.
Last Thursday - Since I was rostered on for a late start at work, I thought I'd use the morning to chase up information re: obtaining approval to gauge costs etc. Unfortunately, it was a public holiday in Rockhampton so it was a bit of a battle. Spoke to XXXXX and the real estate agent from XXXXX re: the problem, the agent promised to look into it for me. At this point I was worried I'd be up for a lot of money to raise the house.
Last Friday - Agent gets in touch with me in the morning, telling me it won't cost much at all to obtain approval and that house doesn't need to be raised. This is good, and since I want the house sold, I decide to go ahead and try to inform XXXX I'm happy to get council approval, as well as having the leaves removed. Unfortunately, it's a battle getting hold of XXXXX to inform the buyer's solicitor of my decision, and in the meantime, a fax is sent from the buyers solicitor indicating they want to terminate the contract since they haven't heard from us. Both XXXXX and agent speak to buyers' solicitor who agrees to again talk to buyer. From what I'm told, XXXXX notified the solicitor of my willingness to deal with their concerns. I'm a bit annoyed at this point, because I've had so little time to investigate my options.
Monday this week - Seemingly happy with the arrangement, buyer talks with agent, asking him to evict tenants so she can move in with her daughter. Then, at around 2pm, I receive a phone call from agent saying he's received notification from buyer's solicitor they want to walk away altogether. Agent later speaks to buyer, who informs him that her daughter drove past the house and didn't like it. I spoke to XXXXX, who informs me the buyer has won and I have no recourse.
The reason I am so disappointed and bordering on angry, is because the REIQ contract says the buyer has to act reasonably in regards to building inspection reports, which she clearly didn't. The games that followed are deplorable, in my opinion, and I don't see why people should be able to walk away from a legal contract on what is essentially a whim.
Also, due to XXXX emailing me notification of their requests on the Tuesday, and me not being aware of it until late on the Wednesday afternoon, I lost valuable time, I can't answer questions like "So, this is what they want, what are you going to do?" without having a chance to do my homework and see what my options are. I can't help but feel that if she had have notified me via a phone call as soon as she knew, then this whole mess could have been averted, not to mention the fact Thursday was a public holiday so I lost even more time. The security wall at my work wouldn't let the email through, so there was no way of me knowing it was there. For all XXXX knew I could have been on a few days off, at home sick, whatever. She should have rang me, but really, that's neither here nor there now.
I gave myself a few days to mull this situation over, and am in the dark as to what my options are. The agent thinks I should hang onto the paltry $300 deposit under clause 9 of the contract, and then pursue the buyer for any difference if the eventual sale is less than $XXXX (the sale price agreed to).
I know my matter is a conveyancing gone bad, but at the end of the day, I'm paying for a service, and am not certain that my interests have been looked after adequately. If you could let me know in writing what options I have, if any, and a guesstimate of the cost, I would be most appreciative.
Thanks
XXXXX
