A man (“the purchaser”) bought a property and negotiated a 13-month settlement period. The contract included a clause that said that if a party became mentally ill they could pull out of the contract. The purchaser took possession of the land before settlement, and everything appeared to be going smoothly. The purchaser himself was a savvy investor because he already had 8 properties to his name. Read more
Only in extraordinary circumstances should a purchaser of a strata property (whether residential or commercial) proceed to exchange contracts or bid at an auction without first reading a written report on the affairs of the owners’ corporation. But beware! These days they are often provided by the vendor, or their selling agent. Do you see a problem? Read more
In a recent Supreme Court case a man negotiated to purchase a property. It was agreed that the deposit was to be paid in two installments. Therefore, the contract included a clause that specified that the first installment was payable on exchange of contracts, and the second installment was to be paid "on the 4th month after the contract date". Read more
The dispute is all too familiar. A pipe between the walls of your lot and another lot is leaking water into your property. Your strata manager insists on billing you for the plumbing repairs, but you argue that the leak is happening in a common area, making it the responsibility of the owners’ corporation. Read more
You may be looking for premises and get offered some space available on a “sublease”. This is common at present because more businesses than ever have employees working remotely from home, and so they have too much floorspace. Subletting the excess space will allow them to recoup some rent during the balance of the term of their lease. Read more
A man and woman had been married to each other for many years. In 1997 a family home was purchased under the husband’s sole name. In 2000 the husband and wife separated, and the husband transferred half of the ownership of the home into his wife’s name. Following this, the husband and wife informally agreed that the husband would transfer his remaining one-half interest in the family home to the wife, making her the sole owner of the family home. Read more
If you have a discretionary trust that holds (or may one day hold) real estate, then you need to be aware of a recent change in the law. Read more
The owners in a block of units in Manly faced a significant problem. All the residents’ mailboxes were located in a communal mail room. Each mailbox had a lock. The strata managers received reports of break-ins in the communal mail room by gangs stealing mail. The chairman of the owners’ corporation believed that as a result of residents’ failure to keep the mailboxes locked, criminal gangs were able to produce a master key. The chairman of the owners’ corporation emailed all residents asking them to make sure their mailboxes were locked. Read more
A few years ago, a builder purchased a property in a regenerated suburb. He intended to knock down the existing house and build on it a large new house for his family. Read more
On 11 June 2020 the Parliament of NSW passed the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 which applies to building work, including residential buildings. The law was introduced following concerns raised about building defects and combustible cladding after reports of defects in high rise buildings. Read more