Property Conveyancing News

Property Purchasers Be Aware – Building Act 2004 Restricted Building Works

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December 28, 2011

Property Purchasers Be Aware – Building Act 2004 Restricted Building Works

 

If you are Property Purchaser or Property Investor you will need to be aware that:

Effective from the 1st March 2012 most design and construction work being completed on residential properties must be carried out or supervised by a person licensed under the Building Act 2004. All Licensed Building Practitioners have been licensed by the Department of Building and Housing.

Note that only individuals can be Licensed, not Companies or Body Corporates.

This is the list as per the Department of Building and Housing:

Restricted Building Works                                                    Who must carry out or supervise

Design                                                                                                Design LBP

                                                                                                            Registered Architects

                                                                                                            Chartered Professional Engineers

Carpentry                                                                                          Carpentry LBP

Roofing                                                                                               Carpentry LBP

                                                                                                             Roofing LBP

                                                                                                             Registered Plumbers & Gas Fitters

Bricklaying and Blocking                                                                  Carpentry LBP

                                                                                                             Bricklaying & Blocking LBP

                                                                                                             Registered Plumbers & Gas fitters

External Plastering                                                                           Carpentry LBP

                                                                                                             External Plastering LBP

                                                                                                             Registered Plumbers & Gas fitters

Foundations                                                                                       Carpentry LBP

                                                                                                             Foundations LBP

The Council must be notified who the Licensed Building Practitioner is before any restricted Building Work is commenced, and once the works are completed the LBP must provide the Council and the Building Owner with a memorandum which identifies what Restricted Building Works have been completed or supervised. Note the additional obligation on designers who must certify that the work complies with the Building Code.

Any works where a Building Consent is applied for before the 1st March 2012 is excluded from the Restricted Building Works scheme. The actual consent does not have to be issued by this date, it is sufficient if the Application has been lodged, accepted by Council and is being processed.

If you require further information and how this may affect a property transfer or property purchase you have contact the Conveyancing Professionals at Property Conveyancing Services Ltd.

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Property Conveyancing And Ownership Of Land

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December 18, 2011

Property Conveyancing and Ownership of Land

 

When it comes to purchasing property in New Zealand the property can be purchased in several types of entities such as:

  1. Individuals.
  2. Limited Companies.
  3. Trusts.
  4. Partnerships.

When it comes to registration of the legal property owners on the Title it can only be Individuals or Limited Companies. In the case of Trusts and Partnerships it is the Trustees of the Trustees and or Partners of the Partnership who are registered on the Certificate of Title.

Co- Ownership relates to the situation where two or more persons are entitled to possession of the same land. Each is entitled to possession of the whole of the land rather than any particular part. The three types of common ownership which exists are:

* Tenancy in Common.

* Joint Tenancy.

* Or under the Joint Family Homes Act 1964.

 Tenants in Common – exists when two or more persons hold defined shares in land. The number of shares to be allocated to each person may depend on the amount of financial contribution being invested in the property purchase or property investment. i.e It could be a share allocation of 50/50 each or 60/40 or 70/30. You would need to advise your Conveyancing Practitioner how the shares are to be allocated so they can prepare the Transfer of Land document accordingly. More importantly each owner of this type must make a provision in their estate as to who they want their share of the property to pass to.

Joint Tenants – When you are registered on the Certificate of Title as Joint Tenants each person has an equal undivided interest in the property transfer and upon the death of either person, the survivor becomes the owner of the deceased person’s interest upon registration of a Transmission Application lodged with Land Information New Zealand.

Both Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in Common give equal rights of possession to each co-property registered owner, and can also be used for real and personal property.

If you are not sure which is the best type of registration for you to purchase property in, always check with your Registered Conveyancing Practitioner.

https//www.propertyconveyancingservices.com

 

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Purchasing A Cross Lease Property – What You Should Be Aware Of

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December 4, 2011

Purchasing A Cross Lease Property – What You Should Be Aware Of

 

When you are purchasing a Cross Lease property your Conveyancing Practitioner should be completing a Search of the Certificate of Title, Flats Plan, Lease and any other encumbrances registered.

In particular they should be checking the exclusive use of the Flat, and checking with you as the Property Purchaser to ascertain whether there have been any additions or alterations to the Flat which are not identified on the footprint of the Flat. If there have been additions or alterations which are attached to the original flat and enclosed and not noted on the Flat Plan then the Title should be requisitioned under Clause 5.2. This condition requires notice to be served on the Vendors Conveyancing Practitioner or Property Lawyer and must be done within the 10 working days from the date of the Sales and Purchase Agreement.

The notice served will require the Vendor to rectify the defect by updating the Flats Plan. The process involved would be very costly to the Vendor and both parties would have the right to cancel the Agreement for Sale and Purchase or come to some other arrangement.

There is a process to create Cross-Lease Subdivision and this is as follows:

1. The Flats Plan is drawn up by the Surveyor and this will show the foot print of each flat and the exclusive use area which goes with each flat together with the common areas.

2. The Flats Plan is approved by the Local Council.

3. The Flats Plan is lodged with Land Information New Zealand under Section 167 of the Resource Management Act 1991.

4. Lease documents for each Flat are prepared, each owner is both a Lessor and Lessee. Each Lease must contain:

 - A term which is usually 999 years.

- The Lessee must remain as the owner of the share in the fee simple.

- Exclusive use area for the individual flat and covenant not to use the exclusive use area of the other flats.

- Covenant that each Lessee shares specified outgoings in relation to the buildings and land.

- Collective decisions of all Lessees.

- Covenant to use common areas for access purposes only and any other matters pertaining to the usage of the flats.

- Leases are registered with Land Information New Zealand and Certificates of Titles are issued for each flat which will note the Covenants.

 

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Conveyancing Services – Shout Out For Conveyancing Practitioners

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November 10, 2011

Conveyancing Services – Shout Out For Conveyancing Practitioners

 

 

The Rugby World Cup is over, so we have decided to Shout Out For Conveyancing Practitioners. We want all of New Zealand Property Owners, Property Purchasers, Property Investors and Real Estate Professionals to be aware that they do have the choice to use the Services of Conveyancing Practitioners when they are selling, purchasing or refinancing.

The Conveyancing Profession has existed in Australia for well over the 30 years. The Real Estate Professionals and Conveyancers work together very much like a successful marriage to ensure that their Vendor and Purchaser Clients transactions settles on time, everytime.

So New Zealand get behind your Conveyancing Practitioners and take a stance like Donald Trump and fire your Solicitors and Lawyers who are undertaking your Property Conveyancing. You don’t need to be paying huge fees for your Conveyancing, after all Property Conveyancing is not a Supreme Court Case. Property Conveyancing is a specialised area of Property Law which Conveyancing Practitioners Specialise in. It is our area of expertise.

Want to know what it is going to cost for your Conveyancing to be done then click the link below: http://www.propertyconveyancingservices.com/free-property-conveyancing-quote.html

Lester Dempster took on the New Zealand Law Society who took every possible to action to stop the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2008 from ever making it off the ground, but in the David -v- Goliath contest representing himself all the way to the Supreme Court he won! Sadly Lester has passed, but there is a Special Award dedicated to his memory which is given to the top Student who graduates after completing the Diploma in Conveyancing from the Bay of Plenty Poly Technic.

And why did the New Zealand Law Society try and stop the Bill? Obviously because providing Conveyancing Services has not just been their bread and butter but the cream. And a rip off for the Property Vendors, Property Purchasers and Property Investors of New Zealand.

Even to this day the Legal Fraternity makes it as difficult as they possibly can for Conveyancing Pracititioners in a Property Transaction, and it has nothing to do with taking their Client’s instructions in a Property Transfer it is simply that they have their nose our of joint because they have competition and they don’t like it, so we say get over it!

Seriously I have been in Property Conveyancing since 1984 both in Australia and New Zealand and this scenario actually happened today on one of my clients transactions.

I must point out we are Licensed Conveyancing Practitioners under the Laywers and Conveyancing Act, we hold Professional Indemnity Insurance and Fidelity Insurance equal to Solicitors and Lawyers, we operate a Trust Account and are Members of the New Zealand Society of Conveyancers who are our Regulators.

In this Property Conveyancing Transaction I acted for the Purchaser, a Solicitor was acting for the Vendor. We both bank with the same Bank. We paid the funds for our Property Purchasers transaction directly to the Vendor’s Solicitors Trust Account, and provided an undertaking that the funds were cleared funds, and would not be reversed, stopped or dishonoured. He refused to accept our undertaking and requested we provide an undertaking from a Solicitor or directly from our Bank. I must point out we bank with the same Bank and the funds did appear in his account immediately in real time.

Furthermore the Conveyancing Lawyer would not release my clients dealing in Land on Line until he had confirmation from my Bank Manager that the funds were cleared.

I’m happy to say the Bank was ASB Bank, and when you do a tranfer from an ASB account to another ASB account the funds show up immediately and can not be stopped, reversed or dishonoured. The Conveyancing Lawyer was well aware of this but my Banker kindly sent the requested email.

So really another stand over tactic with a big stick, of which would not have been his client’s instructions but his own.

Property Conveyancing is a People business, and we are real People with real Families doing Property Conveyancing for real People.

Cheers Kim :)

 

 

 

 

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Property Purchases or Property Sales – Cross Lease Titles

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November 4, 2011

Property Purchases or Property Sales – Cross Lease Titles

 

Whether you are selling a Cross Lease Title or Purchasing a Cross Lease Title there a few things you need to be aware of which will either make or break the property transfer and transaction.

Cross Lease Titles are a very common form of Land Tenure in New Zealand. They can also be a nightmare for Conveyancing Practitioners clients.

So what exactly is a Cross Lease Title? A Cross Lease Title has two interests being Fee Simple and Leasehold and it is this tenure which forms the relationship between the co-owners.

It is also known as a Composite Title. In simple terms: The owner of a Cross Lease Title holds an undivided share as tenants in common in the fee simple of the whole of the land upon which the flats are erected. Essentially the share will depend upon the number of flats on the property. There is than a Leasehold estate with a Lease generally for 999 years for the flat itself, furthermore a nominal amount of rent @ 10c is contained in the Lease.

The biggest problems we encounter with Cross Lease Titles is when there has been an addition or alteration to a dwelling and this is attached and enclosed and the Flats Plan has not been updated.

This essentially makes the Title a defective Title and it can be requistioned under Clause 5 of the Sales and Purchase Agreement. The cost and process involved in getting a Flats Plan updated is a very extensive process. It is also one of the biggest causes for an Agrement for Sale and Purchase to be cancelled.

I recently had an Agreement for Sale and Purchase which was a Cross Lease Title and I acted for the Vendor. The property was subdivided from a Fee Simple Title to a Cross Lease Title and  there was a Land Covenant registered on the original Head Title and carried forward to the Cross Lease. The Land Covenant clearely stated that there could only be one dwelling sited on the property.

Quite obviously since it was a Cross Lease Title there was more than one dwelling. The Purchasers Conveyancing Practitioner requisitioned the defect in Title and requested the removal of the Land Covenant. As this was going to be a huge exercise to be undertaken by my clients they declined to remove the Land Covenant and the Agreement was cancelled.

My clients are now considering their options before putting the property back on the market as to whether they will undertake the removal of the Land Covenant in order to avoid another Agreement being cancelled.

The Land Covenant should have been removed by the Solicitors who transacted the subdivision from Fee Simple to Cross Lease Title.

So in my opinion you should always obtain a Search of the Certificate of Title and all encumbrances registered on the Title whether you are selling or purchasing. This should be done by all Real Estate Agents and Vendors who wish to sell their property privately.

You can click here http://www.propertyconveyancingservices.com/43.html to request a Certificate of Title Search.

If would like more information about Cross Lease Titles feel free to email me directly kim@propertyconveyancingservices.com

Cheers Kim :)

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