Victoria's Section 32 Statements - Tread Warily In This Conveyancing Minefield

Comments

# A Random person said on May 21, 2008 10:52 PM:

I think vendors and agents should only start advertising and showing people through the property when they have the s32 in hand.. I have had many situations when they section 32 was only available a day or 2 before the auction or before the agent was insisting it had to be sold, meaning very little time to perform my own due diligence or get legal advice on the section 32.

# Austin said on May 26, 2008 10:30 AM:

Peter, random person is right - is there anything legally that can be done when the agent holds off the release of the Sec. 32 for as long as possible? I have also had this experience for as long as I can remember.

# Peter Mericka said on May 26, 2008 11:14 AM:

As a legal practitioner I know that estate agents cause a lot of problems with their demands for sale documents.  The Law Institute of Victoria was forced to go to the trouble of writing an article about it some time ago, and it can be downloaded from our Downloads section (See "Quick Section 32" at http://reic.com.au/files/default.aspx )

Estate agents tend to expect everyone to do things to their timetable.  It is typical for the estate agent to advertise an auction or private sale, and then enquire as to whether the vendor has arranged for the sale documents to be prepared.  The estate agent then hassles the vendor to have the solicitor or conveyancer prepared a "quick" or "short form" Section 32, which can have disastrous consequences.

We recently received a Contract Note completed by and estate agent with a very scant Section 32 attached, and then discovered that one of the vendors was deceased.  No wonder the vendor's signature did not appear on the Contract Note!

My personal view is that estate agents should have no role whatsoever with sale documents.

# Austin said on May 27, 2008 9:43 AM:

Thanks for the response, Peter. But again, is there anything that we can do legally as buyers, or, like you say, do we have to run to the agents timetable?

# Peter Mericka said on May 27, 2008 10:06 AM:

Generally, there is nothing a consumer can do.  Having said this, there are strategies that can be used in particular circumstances.  These include by-passing the estate agent and dealing with the vendor or their representative.  But relationships between some lawyers/conveyancers and estate agents can still come into play (search Richard Wood Solicitors on this blog and you'll see what I mean).

If anyone needs assistance in such a situation I can be emailed direct.