Vendor cannot settle on time? What to do?

Hi if any one can advise..

I am due to settle a house early next month. To settle it, I even sold my previous house to raise money for this purpose. Just recently, i received a call from my solicitor saying that the vendor requested for extension till end June for settlement as they have issue getting rid of the tenant.

In my purchase contract, I stated clearly to buy the house with vacant possession. So the vendor should have been prepared for this ... I am very upset of this as I have emotionally and financially gotten ready to take over this new property next week.

Also, I and my parents have long planned to oversee this settlement. We lived overseas currently and have booked plane ticket to go back to Melbourne just to get this done. With this delay, I have to rebook all the tickets.. Additionally, I have to pay some penalty/rebooking fee to the airline to do that. And I am not sure if I can get the time and date that I want as June is a peak periods for Asians to visit Australia due to their school vacation.

What can I do to seek compensation in this? Or what are my rights in this instance. I really frustrated over this...

Thanks.

 

You get no compensation. You are at the mercy of the vendor who is in turn at the mercy of the tenant who is basically in control in this situation. I'm sure the vendor wants the tenant out as much as you do. But the vacating tenant has rights under the residential tenancies Act and many of them know just how to work the system to their own advantage.

 

https://propertychat.com.au/community/threads/legal-tip-37-dont-count-of-contracts-completing.1836/

 

Normally vendor can delay 14 days which is standard clause in big withour penalty. I've done it as a vendor myself. If u bought ur tickets using credit card see if there is an insurance claim cover this. The final inspection is also important for u.

 

Vendor can delay all they want, what you going to do, try and start an expensive action over a few thousand dollars ? No real leg to stand on anyway, they are not being unreasonable, it may be seen that you are being unreasonable.

 

You may be able to terminate the contract and get your deposit money back.

Or you could apply to the Supreme Court for an order of specific performance. Expect to pay around $50k upwards for this.

 

Yes, give them notice if you like, but they still have to deal with the tenant.

Forget the idea of compensation, unless you enjoy grief and like spending 10 dollars to recover every one lost.

It would want to be a very fancy and expensive house to try any action, I reckon you would want to be out 100k or so before you start to consider it, but even then, vendor not acting unreasonably, even if they were, it would not be worth it for most suburban average places. It is generally the buyer who cops all the penalties etc.

 

Hi mates

Thanks for your responses. I guess I just have to accept what's happening and work out a new Settlement date with the vendor.

 

how badly do you want to settle on time vs delay and how much will it cost you if it's delayed in terms of extra flights and any other costs?

eg if you're heavily emotionally invested in it settling on time AND it's going to cost you say 3k in extra costs you could offer an incentive to tenant to move out and maybe go halves with the vendor. depending on vendors motivation they may or may not agree.

there wouldn't be many tenants out there who would refuse to terminate a lease early if they're offered say 5k (quite frankly many would do it for a fair bit less I suspect).

if youre going halves with vendor it would mean you're out of pocket 2.5k, which is less than the cost for you if delayed, you emotionally get what you want and there's no uncertainty in terms of settlement (ultimately there's no guarantee it will settle on the 2nd date either and you could end up paying for 3rd set of flights).

the above figures are obviously made up but principle is the same regardless.

try to remove the understandable emotion from the situation and find a commercial solution. good luck!

 

nah legal action is a waste of time when a much cheaper commercial situation is almost certainly out there.

importance is to not get hung up on what's fair because of course the natural reaction is to find it grossly unfair that you're paying the tenant when its the vendors tenant and not yours etc.


I wouldn't discount the possibility that approaching the tenant directly and reasonably might get a better results. for all we know the vendor could have a terrible relationship with them and they dug In their heels etc.

 

There is often hiccups along the way, and some can be very frustrating.

Just put the hiccup behind you and do not let it stop you enjoying the new place once you have it, the plane fares etc will seem like nothing not too long after it is all done

 

A savvy tenant knows they are in the box seat. Given the fact that the vendor is having trouble getting the tenant out, it is safe to assume this tenant knows the law.

It cost our son $10k to get us tenant to leave early when son unexpectedly returned to the city. Lower offers were rejected. Son not happy, but easier and cheaper than short term renting and a double move.
Marg

 

Marg

Flip 10 grand to get tenant out wow !!!!-some can make it really difficult