Caveat

[ksj_cool]

I sold a property in 2003. After the 3 + 1 month period the purchaser came back to me saying he was unable to get the loan. Gave him a further extension, purchaser was still unable to get a loan. I wrote in to the S&P lawyer, saying that I am not able to give any further extensions. The lawyer did not reply and assumed the matter was closed.

Last year the pruchase contacted me again saying he wanted the property, convincing me that he was able to get a loan etc.etc. He informed me verbally that he has placed a caveat on the propery. I advised him to sign a fresh S&P but he said he wanted to continue with the same S&P. I checked with land office, they advised me that the consent was only valid for the 3 years, I am not sure whether the S&P can be used. S&P lawyers said, it can be used, under condition I give a written extension. I agreed to give written extension of three months provided he agrees to certain conditions. I faxed my conditions to the lawyers, requesting them to prepare a supplementary agreement. I called up the purchaser asking him to have a look at supplementary agreement.

Apparently he did not agree to a couple of terms. One of it was that he accept the house as it is as the agreement has long expired. He wanted me to paint and hand over vacant possession in 'tip top' condition, which I refused. He wanted to discuss in front of the lawyer and I agreed. But after a few days he went over to the lawyers and infromed them that he does not want the house!

The problem now is the caveat. What is the easiest way to remove it or will it expire automatically?

[ksj_cool]

Is'nt there any legal brain in our community, who can tell me something?

[currymee]

Hehehe .... there are plenty of lawyers online, problem is how to charge you for advice huh? :p :D Pro-bono?

[QuietStorm]

Hehehe .... there are plenty of lawyers online, problem is how to charge you for advice huh? :p :D A case of no money no talk, huh? :p

[currymee]

A case of no money no talk, huh? :p

Legal business is also about sharing their knowledge for a price ;)

[QuietStorm]

Legal business is also about sharing their knowledge for a price ;)Just as in health care, no? Pay me and you shall live? :p :p (Tongue in cheek only. No malice intended. :D)

[ksj_cool]

Well, we are just layman trying to find out what is to be done. I don't see any harm in sharing, afterall we still have to get the documentation done right?

[currymee]

Well, we are just layman trying to find out what is to be done. I don't see any harm in sharing, afterall we still have to get the documentation done right?

I don't disagree with you :) - hopefully some kind hearted lawyer/forumer will pro-bono for you :)

[rachel sj]

If the "caveat" you're referring to here is private caveat - commonly involved in sale of property transactions (there're other caveats like lienholders, registrar etc) - pls note a private caveat will only last for 6 years - from the years of its lodgment with land office.

as such, you need to firstly ascertain when was the date your buyer entered the caveat on your property. If it was in 2003 (when the 1st SPA was signed) then it would have lapsed by now, then you dont need to withdraw it.

if the caveat was lodged last year (when supplemental SPA was signed?) then yes, you need to get his lawyer to withdraw the caveat from property given that now he's not someone who has "interest" to buy your property. If he refuses to act, then you get your lawyer to withdraw such caveat on ground of parties' ceasing to proceed with the sale transaction.

my advice is to appoint another lawyer to act for you, given that your lawyer had not properly advised you during the 1st sale back in 2003. What i'm saying is when any SPA is aborted & there is caveat entered upon, it's important to remove such caveat upon termination of the sale. Also, there's no necessity to creat a supplemental agreement when parties wanted to revivie the sale last year - a cleaner way is to enter into a fresh SPA (less documents involved) since in anyway those SPAs for sale of property come in pretty standard terms.

hope this helps.

[currymee]

See, rachel_sj is a kind hearted lawyer/forumer :)

[rachel sj]

See, rachel_sj is a kind hearted lawyer/forumer :)

Just sharing knowledge & experience ...

I am sure there're other kind hearted legally trained forumers around but I'm just being bit KPC :p

[ksj_cool]

Tqvm Racheal. :)

I just checked my SPA, the agreement was executed in 2006. Which means it will expire in two years time (No supplementary agreement was signed). Altenatively can I just go over to the land office,do a search on the title and if there is a caveat, just fill in the borang 57A form, requesting a removal of the caveat? Another question, can he lodge a caveat after the expiry of the agreement (3+1 months)?

I was not represented by any lawyer, I applied for the consent and did the RPGT clearance myself. Should I appoint a lawyer, how much will it cost me?

[rachel sj]

You can do a land search on your property at the land office & it should reveal whether there's any private caveat lodged on same currently & if yes, when it expires.

But for removal of caveat, you need to appoint a lawyer to do that for you coz (1) you need a lawyer to endorse on the withdrawal of caveat form & (2) you need a law firm to endorse on your application to withdraw p.caveat. I am not sure how much lawyer will charge you for the whole transaction, but usually just the mere application to withdraw itself costs not more than RM250 per transaction.

Your buyer should not be able to re-lodge the private caveat on the property given that there's no sale transaction pending now.

I find it amazing that you didnt appoint a lawyer to act for you in SPA ? esp when you are the seller in this transaction? though filing of RPGT you can do it on your own but certainly for matters in land office prescribed under NLC (submission of MOT/MOC or even private caveats, collecting physical land title from land office) you need endorsement from lawyers/law firms to do so.

The real danger of not legally represented is, however, exposing yourself to unnecessary legal risks (for eg, not knowing legal impact of not removing a private caveat after the SPA is off) which might lead to some unwanted legal entanglements with your buyers later.

[ksj_cool]

TQVM Racheal, you have really helped me a lot!

The purchaser's lawyer was acting for me in matters relating to MOT/R &R etc,etc. I did the others like consent to sell from the Land Office, RPGT and obtaining consent/redemption sum from my bank. THsi is because the margin of profit is not big and I was trying to save some bucks. I've called the S&P lawyer to check whether there is a caveat (lodged by them), if there is I will ask them to remove it.

I know I may need to appoint a lawyer to finish this off. Will the lawyer charge me 1% of the purchase price + RM250 or it is just RM250 plus a small fee (not based on purchase price )?