Effectively, Conditional Contracts will be done away with – every contract will have to be lodged within 2 months. Simple. This should almost completely remove any fines to Settlement Agencies.

Within this system, it will allow for Duty to be paid at settlement, from Settlement Funds for anyone using the Register on Line system. The Institute will be promoting this system very heavily, as we feel it will set the Conveyancing Profession far advanced of any other State in the systems for collecting Duty. It will also help to protect the Conveyancing Community from many challenges that may be brought about by Electronic Conveyancing.

Avoid a Delay in Settlement – especially before June 30

In the event that a settlement is delayed beyond the end of the financial year there may be several consequences.
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“7.4 Of the Joint Form of General Conditions

Settlement Date 30 June
Where:
(a) the Settlement Date is before or on 30 June: and
(b) Settlement does not occur before 5pm on 30 June for a reason attributable to the Buyer,
The Buyer must pay the Seller any Land Tax assessed in respect to the Land as at midnight on 30 June calculated as if the Land is the only land owned by the Seller.”
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If settlement delays beyond 5pm on June 30, a new assessment will issue to the seller as if they owned the property after the 1st July and will be billed a full years worth of land tax if the property is not their principle place of residence.

Therefore, they will then be liable for another year of land tax; this is where Condition 7.4 of the JFGC comes to play and applies only to Vacant Land, Commercial & Investment.

1. If the Seller owns the property as their principle place of residence then they are not liable for land tax therefore Condition 7.4 of the Joint Form of General Conditions is NOT applicable, if settlement is delayed by the Buyer.

2. If the Seller owns the property as an investment property or it is Vacant Land then Land Tax IS applicable to the Seller therefore Condition 7.4 of the Joint Form of General Conditions is applicable. In the event that settlement is delayed for a reason attributable to the buyer, the buyer becomes liable in full for the new assessment on a single ownership basis due by the seller and provision must be made at settlement.

Brock Gurr asked about issues that may occur for first home buyers purchasing a property with an existing tenancy.

Below is the response from both agencies.

Reba $2 000 Grant –
In response to your email, your client can indeed apply for the REBA
Home Buyers assistance. We would only require that the current lease is
not extended, and once expired, your client moves into the newly
purchased property, and will reside for at least 12 months.

Just to note though, we would not be able to finalise the application
until the client moves in, so if it is a few months away, there would be a
delay before approval of any money. That being said, we would
still request that the application be lodged in the specified 90 days
from acceptance.

FHOG –
The applicant must have the intention to reside in the grant property, and in order to be eligible to keep the grant monies, applicants must occupy the home purchased or built, as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of six months commencing within 12 months of settlement in the case of established properties, or within 12 months of completion in the case of a home being built.
If you are unable to occupy the home as your principal place of residence for a continuous period of six months, the onus is on the applicant to advise the Commissioner of their circumstances. The Commissioner may consider an exemption from this requirement in certain cases.

Please be advised that WA conduct 100% compliance checks approximately 18 months to 2 years after receipt of the money to ensure compliance. This means if the applicant is found to have not met the residency requirements there are penalties of up to 100%.

Regards

An Overview of the Changes:
For contracts entered into between 1 July 2009 and 30 September 2009 (inclusive), the FHOB will continue to provide first home buyers with $7000 for established homes and $14,000 for new homes. Those amounts are in addition to the existing $7000 grant under the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) scheme.

This means first home owners will receive in total:

$14,000 for established homes
$21,000 for new homes.

From 1 October 2009 to 31 December 2009, the value of the FHOB will halve, to $3500 for established homes and $7000 for new homes. When combined with the FHOG, this will provide a total payment of:

$10,500 for established homes
$14,000 for new homes.

Although the FHOB payment will cease on 31 December 2009, the existing $7,000 grant will continue to be available after this date.

Cheers