« Index of all Property & Leasing eNews articles | November 2009
In This Issue
- eNews index
- PAMDA – Minister stalls on reform promise
- Court crashes 12 high-rise contracts: failure to observe statutory disclosure requirements
- How good is your lease? "Ratchet" rent review provisos valid - for now
- Commercial landlords save costs with leasing bureau
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PAMDA - Minister stalls on reform promise
Fair Trading minister, Peter Lawlor has still not delivered on his promise to end the regulatory mess that costs consumers and the property industry millions of dollars each month the promised reform is delayed.
He continues to respond to hundreds of consumers and industry members who have e-mailed him to voice their distress with the PAMDA shambles. But the most recent written responses are the same as those sent by him six weeks earlier - reflecting a lack of progress and implying that the department is more concerned with public relations than fixing the problem.
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Changes to real estate forms -most recently to accommodate a change of name of the government department that administers PAMDA - are one of the sources of an angry backlash against the minister. Each version of the forms cost the real estate and legal industries millions to implement and cause confusion that result in huge consumer and industry financial losses.
The economic consequences of the PAMDA problem are enormous and it deserves much more ministerial attention than merely rolling out a public relations campaign.
What recent progress has there been?
Sources reveal that a draft Bill that significantly amends the PAMDA contract presentation and delivery provisions has been circulated but only to some stakeholders. The department refuses to issue it for public comment or even among the real estate industry.
Neither the Minister nor the department has revealed the progress of "consumer market testing" of a re-designed warning statement form 30C. The industry hasn’t even seen the new proposed form.
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Peter Carter
Property & Leasing Partner
A Fair Trading inspector recently labelled the current PAMDA situation as "over-the-top". But there has still been no guarantee that all current concerns will be fixed.
Alert : the latest form versions became mandatory on 1 October. Do not use former versions as they will affect contract validity.
Form 30c : Version 5 must be used from 1 October. This means that all contracts presented on or from that date must have the version 5 Form 30c Warning Statement attached as the top sheet.
Form 27c : Version 4 must be used from 1 October. This means that in respect of all contracts presented from 1 October, the version 4 Agent’s Disclosure Form 27c must be given to the buyer prior to the contract.
Form 22a : Version 5 must be used from 1 October. This means that all Appointments on or from that date must use version 5.
The new forms are available in LawSpace.
LawSpace has many other business benefits for agents:
- up-to-the-minute online after-sales progress reports (electronically updated) for all contracts where Carter Capner Law act for buyer or seller;
- monitor transaction progress and view/print transaction documents online;
- see all finance, inspection and settlement changes without having to pick up the phone;
- your client has access to the same on-line information - end phone run-arounds forever – everyone kept in the loop
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