After Settlement question HELP!

I'm in desperate need of information. Feeling very stressed and overwhelmed and need to know where I legally stand without being bullied by a seller's solicitor.

My first time where I purchased a townhouse in Queensland. I was supplied the Settlement Statement two days prior to settlement day. I relied on my Solicitor that it was checked and correct. Settlement day came and went and I moved in. The next week he forwards me email from the sellers side saying they neglected to tell their Solicitor they paid the Body Corp fees in advance (That's the story I was told) and I need to write them another check for $600.07. I honestly think it was a mistake the sellers Solicitor made on the Settlement Statement as the dates indicated are correct just not the amounts. If they neglected to tell them then the dates wouldn't be correct.

I'm being bombarded by their Solicitor now demanding payment or legal action will be taken to recoup the amount. I simply don't have the funds as I took to the table the maximum amount I had and I didn't offer less than the asking price. The week I moved in I already had plumbing issues and now discover an unforeseen expensive repair with drainage that was covered up. Including background as I don't have the magical money tree or employment at this stage.

Where do I stand with this? Can they request more money from me after settlement in Queensland? It's now 5 weeks and they are now threatening legal action. These sellers left me with a headache of a property and now want more funds. Do I ignore or reply telling them searches were done and this should have been sorted between seller and solicitor BEFORE settlement.

Any advice or information on how it works in Queensland would be greatly appreciated. Can send me a private message as well. Thanks!

 

I’m not a legal person but this is what I would do...

Ask your solicitor/conveyancer that was involved in the purchase to double check whether their claim is correct?

If found to be correct I would call their solicitor up and explain the situation as you have above. Work out a payment plan that suits you without paying interest. E.g. $50 a month

As you will know, the drainage issues etc are now your responsibility, but explaining that will go some way to explaining your lack of funds at the moment.

If their lawyer tries to bully you into paying sooner, politely advise them that this was their mistake in the first place.

 

Settlement generally finalises the matter and either party is unable to make further claims on each other under the contract - because it has ended.

Ask the otherside on what legal basis are they making the claim.

 

No-one in their right mind will launch expensive legal action to try to recover a $600 debt. The best form of defence is offence as they say. Either ignore them or threaten to launch your own claim for drainage issues the vendor covered up. This will go nowhere.

 

Thank you Terry_W

 

Thank you Alan. That's what I thought but when their last email mentioned legal action I didn't know what to think. Reading what you guys say makes sense and puts my mind at ease. They are bullies and I'm going to stand my ground. Thanks again.

 

Update and sorry it's long.

I ignored them, then got this:
"As you have not yet paid/re-imbursed the levies we have now prepared a Claim through the Magistrates Court. Please advise whether you have a solicitor to accept service and if not we will arrange for personal service on you".

I contacted a solicitor for advice to be told their fees would be $500 per hour. Not sure where to go from here.

I emailed them back a lengthy email stating this should have been taken care of prior to settlement and they need to take it up with the body corporate if in fact an overpayment was made in error, etc, etc. They replied they can't do this as I'm now the owner and they are unable to recover monies from them but it is due from me. I stated I have received nothing to support or verify their demand. I also asked on what legal basis they are making the claim.


They forwarded me a lengthy email stating among other things:

"At settlement the figures provided to you by your solicitor for payment to our client were incorrect and did not allow for this adjustment and in fact deducted an amount of $64.20 and treated the Body Corporate fees as not being paid when in fact they had been paid.

Therefore the amount that is owing to our client is $607.30 (this is made up of the $64.20 deducted mistakenly and the $543.10 that should actually have bene added. This was brought to our attention by our clients after settlement. You then are taking advantage of payments actually made by them for Body Corporate levies to end of November,

We attach the Settlement Statement settled on and the correct amended one. The Contract clearly states that you must pay for any adjustments levied and paid to a date after settlement date and these obligations are continuing after settlement."


My question is.

Firstly, can they send me a new Settlement Statement AFTER settlement and simply change their figures? The adjustment date still shows as the original settlement date. They simply changed their figures.

Secondly, it seems it was their mistake with the figures being wrong from what I'm seeing on the search they've shared with me. I don't see it supports them paying but it actually shows amount owing as the last figure. Question is are they correct... "these obligations are continuing AFTER settlement."

I'm so disappointed in who I used for settlement and will not go back to him. Too much of a conflict of interest with his wife being the selling agent. Yes I know stupid mistake on my part using him. They caught me when I was vulnerable and desperate and took advantage of me.

Wondering if they are bluffing me or not. If they made the mistake on the figures am I to be held responsible to rectify it? Wishing I could hand back this lemon I should not have purchased.

 

You could take legal advice from a cheaper lawyer perhaps or wait for the statement of claim and fight it in court. If you lose the costs will be limited to a relatively small amount.

 

Thank you so much, that's what I was thinking but was unsure if I'd be up for a lot of court costs. I'm going to reply that I'd prefer if they sorted it out with the Body Corporate. The amount on the search shows an amount owing as the final balance and does not reflect it was paid. I do wonder if the sellers even know about all this trying to recover money directly into Solicitors account otherwise proof of payment would have been forwarded showing payment made.

Thank you for your reply, really appreciate it.

 

thats exactly what I was thinking from a non legal, common sense mind,

my guess is that its all empty threats

 

seems to be no legal basis, and Iread it as a long winded whinge to try and make it sound serioes, especially by mentioning its $500 per hour,

tell them you have a barrister in your family who will represent you for free, and it will cost your client more than $500 per hour to fight it

/not legal advice

 

At some stage though, you have to wonder if the grief is worth it?

At the end of the day, money has been spent that benefits you.

You would have had to pay if the settlement docs were right, or you would have had to pay if they didn’t prepay the body Corp bill prior to settlement.


Let’s put things into perspective, you are knowingly doing the wrong thing, by trying to hang your hat on a mistake of the other side.

And you are now putting yourself under also this pressure for what?

You should do the right thing and make arrangements to pay the bill.

 

All true, but given the solicitor's completely unacceptable behaviour, there's absolutely no way in hell I'd pay! I'd go all the way to court (which they probably wouldn't do) if need be.

 

Thank you for all the advice and different ways of looking at it. Appreciated!!

 

It seems like you have already had the advice you need - but I'll add:

• The body corporate really has nothing to do with this, and is not in a position to refund anything to a former owner - so it will need to be sorted out between the two of you
• A body corporate search is usually done quite early in the sales contract - so that financial data should not be relied upon for settlement as it could have changed
• An 'information certificate' is almost always ordered by the buyer's solicitor the day before settlement - which shows the current balance of the levies. There is a statutory fee for this which I think is around $70 and the body corporate must provide it.

If the settlement had been handled more competently, you would have had to pay for the levies for the period that you were the owner - so you're not losing out. If I were you, I'd pay the levies and move on.

Matt