Conveyancer shocking charge and mistake

Hi,

Further to the story
A shocking bill from an "expert" conveyancer

My friend asked a mortgage broker (who is also a conveyancer) to refinance an investment property.
The mortgage broker advised that the lease of my friend's other investment property (lease to a Pizza business) is wrong.
The current lease is "retail" lease but the mortgage broker/conveyancer thought that it should be a "commercial" lease.
So she charged $3,283.00 + GST to draft up a "commercial" lease for my friend's existing Pizza shop tenant so that she can proceed with her mortgage brokering business.

--- "Professional" fees from the conveyancer ---
28 May 2020
Lease discussion with property manager to resign the lease.
$490.00

02 June 2020
Prepare the Vendor’s disclosure.
$735.00

02 June 2020
Prepare the Lease.
$882.00

04 June 2020
Do the due diligence on tenant and prepare a docusign lease.
$931.00

09 June 2020
Send company search to building manager to assist Lessee' execution.
$98.00

10 June 2020
Assist on Lease execution.
$147.00
Sub-Total $3,283.00
GST on fees $328.30
--- END of bill ---

I think the original "retail" lease is correct.
The mortgage broker/conveyancer's suggestion to draft up a "commercial" lease is wrong and that she charged $3283+GST is simply unreasonable.
What can my friend do?
My friend has paid the $3283+GST and then got $20000+ bill for other "professional" services from this conveyancer.

 

28 May 2020
Lease discussion with property manager to resign the lease.
$490.00

The conveyancer rang the property manager of the Pizza shop and
1. explained that the retail lease is wrong and should be a commercial lease
2. asked the property manager to inform the Pizza shop tenant to resign the lease

It takes around 1 hour, so $490

This is part of the conveyancer's "make sure the lease is right" process so that she can carry on her mortgage broker business with my friend.

 

04 June 2020
Do the due diligence on tenant and prepare a docusign lease.
$931.00

The conveyancer did due dilegence by
1. checking ASIC records and company director of the Pizza shop tenant
2. finding out that there was a discrepancy between the guarantor of the lease and the director of the Pizza shop

This takes around 2 hours, so $931+GST

This is part of the conveyancer's "make sure the lease is right" process so that she can carry on her mortgage broker business with my friend.

 

02 June 2020
Prepare the Vendor’s disclosure.
$735.00

02 June 2020
Prepare the Lease.
$882.00

What the ....??

 

If the conveyancer did the wrong thing - changed a retail lease to a commercial lease and then charged for preparing the commercial lease, what can my friend do?
Fair Trading? NCAT?

 

This is all ****ed up.

 

Do they even know what a retail lease is?

See Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW)
NSW legislation

Ask for the money back. They did the wrong lease and they should know the legislation.

 

Refer your friend to this:

Apply for a conveyancer cost dispute hearing | Service NSW

"A conveyancing costs application must be lodged within 60 days after the conveyancer has delivery to the client an account or bill of costs being the subject of the dispute."

 

Please name and shame so I don't use your conveyancer in the future

 

I thought the $3K was over the top but what the hell was $20K for ?
Shouldnt be licensed.

 

I have clarified with my friend about the whole situation.

My friend asked a mortgage broker (who is also a conveyancer) to refinance an investment property.
The mortgage broker advised that the lease of my friend's other investment property (lease to a Pizza business) is wrong.
The errors in the lease are:
1. it should be a retail lease, not a commercial lease
2. the length is 4 years 9 months, a valid lease should be at least 5 years

At first, the mortgage broker suggested to just change the header of the lease (by changing the word "commercial" to "retail") but at the end, she decided to start from scratch.

The mortgage broker then wore conveyancer hat and
1. download retail lease template from lawdepot
2. fill in the retail lease with most details from the initial wrong "commercial" lease
3. coordinate ($490+GST/hour) with various parties (agent, tenant) to get this lease signed

At the end, she charged $3,283.00 + GST to draft up a retail lease for my friend's existing Pizza shop tenant so that she can proceed with her mortgage brokering business.

 

My bad. The mortgage broker made the right call.
My friend had "commercial" lease when it should be "retail" lease.
So the only arguable points here are
1) the necessity to draft up a lease from scratch (could have just modify the header of the lease with the agreement with the tenant)
2) the $490+GST/hour charges, and leads to $3000+ for a retail lease from a conveyancer

 

The details about the $20k+ charge
A shocking bill from an "expert" conveyancer

 

I don't think it is a good idea to name the shame.
If you ever met a conveyancer who quotes you an hourly rate of $490+ in the future, then you know what to do

 

A retail lease resembles a commercial lease as much as a residential lease resembles a will. They are not interchangeable.

They are law society template leases or other law stationers.

 

Are conveyancers licensed to write up legal documents such as leases?

 

Also, why did your friend ever pay a conveyancer $490 per hour? She doesn’t have a law degree?? Does she have professional indemnity insurance the covers her for legal work? I don’t know how she could if she is not an admitted lawyer?

I use a qualified solicitor for our business legal stuff and he runs his own practice and charges about $400 per hour. Suburban firm in Melbourne.

 

AFAIK Yes

 

This is absolutely rubbish. How come this is a shock for your friend? Didn't he discuss the rates with her before engaging her? He needs to cross check this with other conveyancers and report to fair trade.


That will be $1100+GST for this advice. What's your email so I can send you the itemised invoice?

$600+GST for thinking about this message.
$500+GST for writing this advice.

Thanks