Our clients Matthew and Elenor decided to sell their family home in Melbourne. The purchaser was a developer and required a 6-month settlement period, to which our clients agreed. An ordinary settlement period is usually 6 weeks, but Matthew and Elenor were happy to grant the extension given that our team was able to negotiate an unconditional early release of the deposit.
Unfortunately, there were many hiccups throughout the settlement process. Less than two months after the exchange, our clients’ tenant decided to vacate the premises which resulted in our client being out of rent for 4 months. Being pensioners, they were not working, and the rental income Matthew and Elenor received from the property was their only source of income at the time.
Closer to settlement, the purchaser nominated another purchaser to complete the sale, which resulted in a delay with settlement. The new purchaser had also requested an extension to the settlement period of another month.
When settlement finally came around, One Law (with our client’s approval) charged the purchaser penalty interest of 12% p.a. on the balance of the purchase price which resulted in an $8,500.00 adjustment being made in our client’s favour. Both Matthew and Elenor were very pleased with this result as it made up for the loss of rent they had suffered in the process.
