How a deed of settlement and contract of sale can end your building dispute

Sale of defective building.

Maybe you are a builder or developer and facing litigation or in the midst of it.

There are huge financial costs of litigation AND not to mention the stress and inconvenience of VCAT hearings, Court evidence, discovery, attending mediation, maybe you will be called to give evidence in Court and grilled by a KC!

Not nice AND not always needed.

Psst: There is a secret to cleanly exit a dispute, Brockhill & Usherwood Lawyers have experience preparing a deed of settlement and arranging a contract of sale where the parties (owner and builder / developer) can move on.

YOU, whether an owner, developer or builder need just one thing…That is agreement on the sale price. We do the rest.

Many people over the last 18 months have criticised this method of sale.

I get asked: “Blair - they are entitled to their home and entitled damages they shouldn’t have to sell” Me: “true, but they don’t have to sell, but if they litigate they will have to spend substantial amounts on legal costs (yes this may be recoverable but there is insolvency risk too!) and that can be avoided IF builder is prepared to purchase”

I get asked: “how can you satisfy disclosure obligations” Me: “this is fairly straight forward if you know how, there is a bit of paperwork including (1) we settle a deed of release and (2) a specifically worded contract of sale that ‘Dovetail’ together - that is the art of the clean exit”

I don’t get asked enough…”Blair on what type of properties does this work best” My answer is “Any property, anywhere but in practice but I find it is easiest with (1) strata and apartments where there is less connection to the exact lot or location (2) new project builds”

An existing family home often has memories and a desire to be made good the loss and continue to live there.

Anyway. It is tough out there when something goes wrong and often the builder can bring it back to condition more cost effectively and under their own timeline and ownership.

Trust me, this is not done in a week, but it can be done and we have agreed this multiple times and can even negotiate terms for owners. The key is all about exit and minimising costs and full and proper disclosure on the record.

ASK ME HOW…

This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Tagged as:

• building disputes
• property disputes
• litigation