[2dogs-DD-DH-and-...]

Hi,

I really need some advice. I have no idea where to go or what to do.

Firstly, let me deal with our most immediate problem.

We are the buyers of a new property which was due to settle on Jan 21. Issue is, our conveyancer (who knew this) has some how pushed out the settlement of the house we are selling until Feb 28.

As of today, the vendor of the house we are due to buy on Jan 21 have accepted our request for belated settlement, however are requesting penalty interest and legal fees are incurred by us.

What I really need to know is what we can do to avoid paying penalty interest? As a vendor, would you be willing to accept rent and no legal costs for 1 month?

What else would you (as a vendor) be willing to accept as compensation for delayed settlement?

________


Secondly, we are in Victoria. Does anyone know how I go about taking legal action for the recovery of any such compensation costs to the vendor against a conveyancer who wrecked the settlement date of the house we are selling in the first place? Is there a government body (like an ombudsman ) that deals with these situations?

Please help. Kind of urgent.

Thanks.

[Sassy Dingo]

As to the first question it can't hurt to ask them if they'd accept.

As to the second, if it is a legal firm you can complain to the states legal services commissioner.

Here is the link to the legal services commissioner for Qld.

http://www.lsc.qld.gov.au/complaints

[GeminiSix]

You need to call Consumer Affairs Victoria for advice in relation to your conveyancer. Their website states that all licensed conveyancers need to hold professional indemnity insurance. Here is some information from the CA website

Consumer Affairs Vic

[JRA]

I would not give an inch on something like this, but of course you can try

They will probably need to pay two mortgages etc for that time, they deserve compensation as you guys have screwed them around.

Now if your lawyer pushed your other settlement out, why did they do that? Why did you agree to it? Surely they didn't do it without asking.

[Escapin]

I would go back to your lawyer and say you agreed Jan 21, and it better be Jan 21 or you'll be hitting him/her up for costs...

[libbylu]

Perhaps it would be cheaper for you to settle on the original date (21st Jan) and get bridging finance yourself to cover you for the period between when the house you bought settles and when the house you have sold settles. It might be easier to attempt to recoup these costs from your solicitor when you have clearly had to pay them (to the bank), rather than your costs being compensation to a third party.

Find out what the vendors are asking for in compensation and get a quote for bridging finance for yourselves and see which works out cheaper.

[2dogs-DD-DH-and-...]

Thanks I will contact our bank about bridging finance.

As to how all of this happened in the first place - the conveyancer looked over a purchase contract for a property that was tenanted until Feb 28th on our behalf.

We didn't buy that property (or even put an offer in) but somehow she has taken it as an indication we needed to move settlement date and requested it.
The people buying our house did not advise before Christmas on the extension of settlement and when we spoke to the conveyancer she told us to keep to the original contract date if we were to purchase over the Christmas period (which we did).

Anyway very long story with what has followed, we are not impressed, but need to sort out settlement first and deal with compensation after we've sorted it.

[Tobias'smum]

long story short if agent delayed settlment when banks other party ready then they can wear the cost .

In wa we have set terms and conditions re penalty interest. An agent shouldnt be able to do that with out your written consent



all the best

[rob6712col]

If you have the same conveyancer for your sale and your purchase and they were aware that the purchase relied on the sale and then they still changed the settlement date of your sale then the conveyancer needs to pay the fees for late settlement. If you have not signed anything to change the settlement then I would not be paying a thing. The rent and penalties for the purchase will come out at settlement. Advise your conveyancer that they will be paying them. From the vendors point of view you could ask if they would just take rent but if it was me I wouldn't. Has the conveyancer contacted the people buying your home and told them they have made a mistake and would like to bring the settlement forward? Even if it was brought forward by a couple of weeks then at least the penalties would be less.

[Shellby]

when we spoke to the conveyancer she told us to keep to the original contract date if we were to purchase over the Christmas period (which we did).

This bit I don't understand - did you know of the 28th Feb date before you purchased this house - if so why didn't you make your purchasing contract the same date instead of 21st of January?

If you did know that your contract for selling had changed and happened before purchasing and signing the contract for the house your buying I can't see the conveyancer being the one in the complete wrong except for not pointing out before you signed the contract that the settlement date is before your settlement date for selling or you did you sign the contract before having them look over it and discuss it with you?