Which government body deals with complaints / problems about conveyancers ?
They have incorrectly charged me for something and i only got the break down after settlement was done
Problem with Conveyancer
Youi2018 on 09/03/2021 - 21:48
Comments
Just speak to them
Did you check the invoice before paying them?
What did they charge incorrectly?
Did they provide you the full cost of settlement before you started? Sometimes that's just the price of the "package" for performing the full conveyancing.
What have they incorrectly charged you for?
Are we talking a material sum of money, or a relatively trivial amount?
Might start with saying what the issue is, and what they said when you raised it with them?
So i am buying a commercial property. The seller paid the land tax at the start of the year . Now after i see the settlement breakdown we have been charged for 10 months (march - dec ) for the land tax .
The problem is that is the land tax he paid is for the 3 commercial properties he sold ( they are units ) . I only bought one unit
So my land tax payable is only $500 a year for my unit
He paid $1500 for the year and they have taken over $1100 from me to cover march - dec
I hope that makes sense
Also i was the last to settle out of the 3 units
Did your contract state that land tax is adjustable?
Your conveyancer should have pointed this out on the contract of sale, and requested the sum from the vendor.
This ^ check your contact. We recently had the exact same thing happen to us because of a new conveyancer down in Tassie and the strange contracts down there.
Sounds like a calculation error.
Have you pointed this out to them and requested a ~$680 refund?
Yes we have told them a calculation error has been made
They are looking into it
I just want to know what my options are or who i can go to if they don’t acknowledge this
what my options
Normally these things are fixed/refunded without too much fuss. Even more so with such a small amount.
No need to go all scorched earth on them at this point in time. Give them some time to check the calculations and go from there.
Are you looking at the settlement adjustments, or the cheque directions/details?
Also just talk to your conveyancer, they will probably explain it in 5 minutes.
What did they say when you called them or did you ask here first?
OzBargain handled the conveyance, its a new premium feature.
Damn I should have signed up
E&OE
Yes of course i advised them of the problem first
They are looking into it
I just want to know where i can go if they don’t acknowledge the mistake made
From personal experience, lawyers/conveyancers make mistakes all the time, sometimes huge. This has become worse with many legal practitioners not getting familiar with PEXA. I've never bothered to report them or request a discount for not providing due care, but it does make me worry about how often mistakes are overlooked. Some aren't very good at itemising the costs.
If you're not complaining or planning to complain about the cost or quality of the conveyancing service itself, then usually everything else can be remedied, even after settlement. Usually the other party has a conveyancer advising them as well, and they won't try and run away with your money. I assume your amount is trivial compared to the bulk of the amounts involved, but we've had cases where the difference was 5% of the sale price (due to a discrepancy between the deposit listed in the contract and what was actually paid and agreed upon) and even worse, the buyer was somehow set to receive payment into his own mortgage account…
There are cases where a conveyancer stuff up can become costly or irreversible. If you were selling your house, failure to complete a contract thoroughly or failure to secure the release of a mortgage on time would give the buyer the right to terminate or sue you for damages.
https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/buying-products-and-servi…
https://lsbc.vic.gov.au/consumers/how-can-we-help/problems-c…