Hi,
I am selling my house in Queensland. Currently it is under contract, not yet unconditional though still subject to pest&building. I have a question about what I have to disclose to the buyer regarding a sewer manhole.
I don't want to do anything wrong, but don't want to unnecessarily score an own goal either.
The situation:
1. A sewer line runs across my back yard, as it does for most of the houses in the street (it just runs down everybody's back yard). It just does the houses on my side of the street, so maybe 14 or so houses before it gets to mine. Quite a few houses on the street have manholes in their backyard because of this. My neighbour's is actually buried under the grass in the backyard.
2. There is manhole on my property, it is a few meters away from the house, which limits the ability to extend too much (can't build closer than 1 meter) and the house is small enough that people might want to extend.
3. In 2003 I landscaped and as part of this put a plant pot on top of the manhole, plus 2 inches of small rocks on top of the rest of the manhole. The edge few cm of the manhole are visible for about 1/3 of its diameter but its not that exactly obvious to see. I think the council frowns on burying or covering them (??) Before selling, I moved some of the stones to actually make it slightly more obvious it was there rather than less so, but like I said it doesn't scream "manhole".
4. The sewer and manhole are on the council dial before you dig diagrams and also the official council house sewer plans so would be revealed by a simple council search.
5. There's no easement or anything, and no encumbrances on the title.
6. The standard REIQ contract that has been signed has a standard section that states the property is free of all encumbrances other than those on the title, although its definition of encumbrances includes "unregistered" and "statutory" encumbrances.
7. The vendor hasn't indicated anything about wanting to extend or put in a pool or whatever that I believe would definitely oblige me or the agent to tell him about it (I would be in the wrong if I didn't I think?).
My questions are:
1. Is the manhole/sewer an "unregistered" or "statutory" encumbrance or neither?
2. Am I committing a form of "fraudulent concealment"?
3. Should I be ensuring the buyer is aware of its presence?
4. When buying a property is it "normal" for conveyancing solicitors to check sewerage plans, therefore should I expect the buyer to have discovered it?
5. Would this would be grounds to cancel the contract before settlement if he only discovered it later on?
6. What could happen after the contract is settled and the buyer only then discovers the manhole? Could I be sued or the contract somehow still cancelled?
More comments:
From what I've read, I don't have to tell the buyer about any defects (except for title defects). But I can't misrepresent things to him (eg. indicate there is no obstruction to extending into the backyard, or tell him there is no sewer etc), and I can't fraudulently conceal anything from him. So is my landscaping work fraudulent concealment or misrepresentation?
I'm not sure what to do - I am a very cautious person - I am tempted to play it safe and get my solicitor to inform the buyers solicitor? But it could sink the sale... at least I could sleep at night.
I am selling my house in Queensland. Currently it is under contract, not yet unconditional though still subject to pest&building. I have a question about what I have to disclose to the buyer regarding a sewer manhole.
I don't want to do anything wrong, but don't want to unnecessarily score an own goal either.
The situation:
1. A sewer line runs across my back yard, as it does for most of the houses in the street (it just runs down everybody's back yard). It just does the houses on my side of the street, so maybe 14 or so houses before it gets to mine. Quite a few houses on the street have manholes in their backyard because of this. My neighbour's is actually buried under the grass in the backyard.
2. There is manhole on my property, it is a few meters away from the house, which limits the ability to extend too much (can't build closer than 1 meter) and the house is small enough that people might want to extend.
3. In 2003 I landscaped and as part of this put a plant pot on top of the manhole, plus 2 inches of small rocks on top of the rest of the manhole. The edge few cm of the manhole are visible for about 1/3 of its diameter but its not that exactly obvious to see. I think the council frowns on burying or covering them (??) Before selling, I moved some of the stones to actually make it slightly more obvious it was there rather than less so, but like I said it doesn't scream "manhole".
4. The sewer and manhole are on the council dial before you dig diagrams and also the official council house sewer plans so would be revealed by a simple council search.
5. There's no easement or anything, and no encumbrances on the title.
6. The standard REIQ contract that has been signed has a standard section that states the property is free of all encumbrances other than those on the title, although its definition of encumbrances includes "unregistered" and "statutory" encumbrances.
7. The vendor hasn't indicated anything about wanting to extend or put in a pool or whatever that I believe would definitely oblige me or the agent to tell him about it (I would be in the wrong if I didn't I think?).
My questions are:
1. Is the manhole/sewer an "unregistered" or "statutory" encumbrance or neither?
2. Am I committing a form of "fraudulent concealment"?
3. Should I be ensuring the buyer is aware of its presence?
4. When buying a property is it "normal" for conveyancing solicitors to check sewerage plans, therefore should I expect the buyer to have discovered it?
5. Would this would be grounds to cancel the contract before settlement if he only discovered it later on?
6. What could happen after the contract is settled and the buyer only then discovers the manhole? Could I be sued or the contract somehow still cancelled?
More comments:
From what I've read, I don't have to tell the buyer about any defects (except for title defects). But I can't misrepresent things to him (eg. indicate there is no obstruction to extending into the backyard, or tell him there is no sewer etc), and I can't fraudulently conceal anything from him. So is my landscaping work fraudulent concealment or misrepresentation?
I'm not sure what to do - I am a very cautious person - I am tempted to play it safe and get my solicitor to inform the buyers solicitor? But it could sink the sale... at least I could sleep at night.
