Selling a property? Make sure you properly disclose, or you could suffer severe consequences…

New changes to the law could cause serious loss to you when you sell an asset that you have acquired, and hopefully experienced significant growth in.

The government has created changes to better protect purchasers from buying “shonky” properties. Sellers must make sure they provide additional information to purchasers to ensure the property is passed over to the new buyer without them being disgruntled, and claiming they were mislead.

The government has ensured that any breach of the requirement for disclosure could create severe losses to Sellers. The particular fear is not that you might deliberately mislead, but that you might inadvertently not disclose something you should!

It is definitely advised that you become fully familiar with what you need to tell.

There have always been requirements to make certain disclosures, however the government has changed this up a little, and as at 1 September 2017 there have been five major changes to warranties and adverse affectations:

1. The first change is in relation to Strata Properties – If there is a proposal made by the Strata Community in relation to a collective sale or re-development of the strata scheme this must be denoted in the Contract for Sale if the meetings of the minutes have not been made.
2. The second change is in relation to Orders that have been given to a Vendor by the Minister, Council, or relevant body to do, or to refrain from doing, any of the following:
   1. Cease using premises for specified purpose…
   2. To demolish or remove a building…
   3. Not to demolish, or to cease demolishing, a building…
   4. To repair or make structural alterations to a building…
   5. To alter, obliterate, or demolish an advertisement, or an associated advertising structure…
   6. To do, or refrain from doing, such things as specificied in the Orders so as to ensure or promote adequate fire safety or fire safety awareness…
   7. To erect or install on or around a building such structures or appliances as are necessary to protect persons or property on or in a public place…
   8. Not to conduct, or to cease conducting, an activity on the premises (being an activity that is, or is capable of being, the subject of a development consent)…
   9. To cease the use of a building…
   10. To cease the use of premises or evacuate a premises…
   11. To leave premises or not to enter premises…
   12. To do such things as specified in the Order to restore premises to the condition to which they were before a building was unlawfully erected, or before work was unlawlfully carried out…
   13. To such things are necessary to bring into complaince with relevant development standards any building or part of building that has been unlawfully ereceted…
   14. To repair or remove a building…
   15. To comply with a development consent…
   16. To complete development that is subject to a devlopment consent, within such time as the consent or authority considers reasonable having regard to all relevant circumstances…
   17. To carry out works associated with a subdivision…
   18. To do or refrain or doing an act to remedy or restrain a breach of sections of the Act…
   19. To cease carrying out specified building work or subdivision work.
3. The third is in relation to rights of way – the Vendor has the obligation to disclose a right of way. A right of way is a legal right, established by usage or grant, to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another.
4. The fourth is in relation to an obligation for the Vendor to disclose a mandatory code compliant certificate that requires the establishment of a set-aside area. A mandatory code compliant certificate is a certificate issued by local land services for the clearing of native vegetation that is required under a land management (native vegetation code) before the cleaning is carried out under the code.
5. The fifth, whereby, the Vendor is obliged to disclose a remediation order which is an order for remediation work related to damage to land, habitat, plants and animals. Such orders may require the works to control, maintain, remediate or restore.

The trick is, tell your Solicitor/Conveyancer everything, just to ensure the finger is not pointed at you if buyers start complaining that they didn’t know what they were buying!

When you sell your property you should get as much money in your pocket as possible. You should obtain the highest price the market is willing to pay, and you should not be reducing your return by having to be paying purchasers for your breach of any warranties or not disclosing adverse affectations.