by Tim O’Dwyer M.A., LL.BSolicitorConsumer Advocate watchdog@argonautlegal.com.au Last week I received this email: “Tim, I was wondering if you could help me with a strange clause. A woman wants to purchase a property for $500,000. She wants to get extra money from the banks to cover deposit, so this is what she proposes: Contract Price: $670,00030% deposit (deposit is not physically paid, but sellers acknowledge that the deposit has been) Then at settlement, she pays the...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd “Real Estate Agents Preying On Battlers” is the title of an article appearing on the ABC news website. I invite visitors to read the item for themselves, but it is a comment to this item that I find particularly interesting. Way down the list of 37 comments to the article is one by a contributor known as Rel. ...
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by Shannyn HunterConveyancer shannyn@lawyersconveyancing.com.au Lawyers Conveyancing On Monday morning purchasers can experience a real estate hangover. After a weekend of elation at finding their dream house and pressure from the agent to make an offer, with hesitation they sign on the dotted line and their concerns about legal advice are pushed aside. They are locked into a contract. Unfortunately, the emotive attachment that causes you to buy a property can also cause you to forego certain...
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by Shannyn HunterConveyancer shannyn@lawyersconveyancing.com.au Lawyers Conveyancing The mundane life of large body corporates will be shaken up at the start of next year when the Owners Corporations Act 2006 takes effect. As reported by Wendy Mason in the Herald Sun they will be called Owners Corporations (OCs). The idea is to move away from the ad hoc approach to building maintenance, and prevent lot owners being slugged with considerable levies when maintenance work is needed. Mason’s...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate LawyerConveyancerConsumer Advocatepeter@lawyersconveyancing.com.au I have discussed the way in which payments to estate agents can become illegal secret commissions if they are not disclosed, and how the disclosure of payments tends to work against the purpose of the payments. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I assume that any payments or gifts made by Richard Wood Solicitors to Barry Plant Real Estate’s estate agents, or any other...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate LawyerConveyancerConsumer Advocatepeter@lawyersconveyancing.com.au In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we must assume that Richard Wood Solicitors and Barry Plant Real Estate have done everything the law requires of them in relation to gifts offered to estate agents in return for client referrals. But does it make sense for a lawyer or conveyancer to offer gifts to estate agents if legal compliance makes the whole exercise a waste...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd This is a comment submitted in response to the previous posting on this site. While I cannot help but be annoyed about the apparent weakness (personal and professional) of the lawyer who expresses it, it does seem to sum up the situation: “While I am proud to confirm that I am a legal practitioner, I cannot identify myself...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd On 3 August, 2007 I published a posting titled “Richard Wood Solicitors – Gifts To Agents For Client Referrals“. On 13 August, 2007 a person identified only as “David” posted the first of a number of comments attacking me personally on the basis of my ethics. The attack would have been unremarkable, except for the fact that the estate...
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by Peter Mericka B.A., LL.BReal Estate Lawyer Qualified Practising Conveyancer VictoriaDirector Lawyers Real Estate Pty Ltd At 3 p.m. on Wednesday 9 May, 2007 every real estate agent and estate agent representative in the State of Victoria was declared to be a conveyancer, free to conduct conveyancing transactions throughout the State. No longer will estate agents have to wait for conveyancers to prepare Section 32 Vendor Statements, Auction Contracts, or other legal documents associated with...
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by Tim O’Dwyer Solicitor* A solicitor, recently discharged from bankruptcy, has given an enforceable undertaking to Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading after consistently failing to comply properly with a consumer protection law. He is not the first. The undertaking records that Fair Trading’s Chief Executive “reasonably believes” Gold Coast solicitor Gregory Pointon contravened Section 365B of the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act by not declaring to clients his relationships with real estate agents. The...
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