You may recall our eAlert last year and the series of changes that have been made to contracts of sale due to the consumer laws in the Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 (Vic). From 1 March 2012, the cooling off exceptions will be amended meaning that purchasers will be able to obtain legal advice and still retain their cooling off rights.
Contracts of sale will need to be amended by removing or striking out the cooling off exception where a purchaser obtains legal advice before signing a contract.
We are amending our contracts to take into account the amendments to the cooling off exceptions in all new contracts that we prepare and for all new instructions that we receive, but developers and agents should take stock of their current contracts for unsold lots and either:
- request new contracts to be prepared and destroy current contracts before 1 March 2012; or
- strike out the cooling off exception in relation to a purchaser obtaining legal advice before the signing the contract.
Despite the amendment to the cooling off exceptions from 1 March 2012, the new consumer laws requiring the inclusion of three notices on the front page of any off-the-plan contract are still likely to commence on 30 June 2012.
Please contact us if you have any queries regarding the amendments to the cooling off exceptions and your contracts of sale.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
