The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) says it\u2019s disappointed that the Property Law Bill has been prematurely introduced into Parliament while there\u2019s still material matters to be worked through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bill seeks to implement a formal seller disclosure regime in Queensland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said while the real estate peak body supported the introduction of a uniform statutory seller disclosure regime, this support was subject to the establishment of appropriate disclosure parameters and reasonable costs and accessibility to information associated with disclosure requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The REIQ has raised a number of concerns with the proposed legislation including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– impractical and unnecessarily complex requirements associated with the provision of a disclosure statement at auctions;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– the counter-productive and regressive reintroduction of Community Management Statement (CMS) disclosure when selling lots in a Community Titles Scheme;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– ambiguity regarding circumstances giving rise to buyer termination rights;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– onerous obligations on sellers to disclose and describe unregistered encumbrances to buyers;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– yet to be determined flood-related disclosures and warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe recognise the benefits associated with a single statutory disclosure regime ensuring all buyers have access to appropriate information to make informed decisions when buying property in Queensland, but this must be balanced with relevant and clearly defined disclosure requirements,\u201d Ms Mercorella said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are the peak body for real estate professionals in Queensland, with an unparalleled understanding of the way real estate transactions are facilitated in this state, so it\u2019s alarming that the proposed legislation has been introduced into Parliament while we are still in the process of working through key stakeholder consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Mercorella said that among the REIQ\u2019s material concerns, was the proposal to require disclosure documents be provided in different ways depending on whether a bidder arrived before or just after the commencement of an auction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe proposed requirements are unnecessarily complicated and demonstrate a lack of understanding of the principles of an auction sale,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also noted that the reforms intend to take a regressive step by seeking to reintroduce the requirement to provide a Community Management Statement (CMS) in connection with a sale of lot in a Community Titles Scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is disappointing to see a proposal to reintroduce a past failed legislative measure,\u201d Ms Mercorella said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn some instances, a CMS can be complex and voluminous and research has shown that consumers are often overwhelmed by too much paperwork and the information is therefore largely ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Mercorella said that it was also concerning that the Bill remained ambiguous in relation to matters that would give rise to potential termination rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cQueensland has a concerning history of real estate legislation leaving too much room for interpretation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe only have to look at the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act (now repealed) to see the significant amount of disputes and litigation that arose from poorly drafted legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lastly, Ms Mercorella said the REIQ was disappointed at the apparent lack of planned infrastructure and resources to support sellers and ensure equal accessibility and reasonable costs for sellers to access information required to comply with the disclosure regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you are going to take the significant step of introducing a formal disclosure regime into Queensland, it\u2019s essential that there are appropriate infrastructures in place to support it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said as a key stakeholder, the REIQ had provided crucial input and acknowledged that consultation regarding property disclosure had been ongoing over many years, however some material matters remained outstanding, including unfinished discussions regarding flood-related disclosures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the state peak body for real estate, we know that the \u2018wrong\u2019 disclosure regime will add unnecessary expense and delays to the selling and buying process for Queenslanders,\u201d Ms Mercorella said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiven the significance of real estate to the Queensland economy and the housing crisis we are facing, this is simply too critical an issue to rush this process through at the last minute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article was contributed by REIQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can find more information at: https:\/\/www.reiq.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Original article source: https:\/\/www.reiq.com\/articles\/property-law-bill-prematurely-introduced-into-parliament-says-reiq\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) says it\u2019s disappointed that the Property Law Bill has been prematurely introduced into Parliament while there\u2019s still material matters to be worked through. The Bill seeks to implement a formal seller disclosure regime in Queensland. REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said while the real estate peak body supported the introduction of a uniform statutory seller disclosure regime, this support was subject to the establishment of appropriate disclosure parameters and reasonable costs and accessibility to information associated with disclosure requirements. The REIQ has raised a number of concerns with the proposed legislation including: – impractical and unnecessarily complex requirements associatedRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1279,"featured_media":3397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2,29,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","post","publish","author-reiq","post-3394","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general-interest","category-legal","category-real-estate","category-reiq"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3395,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3394\/revisions\/3395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theonsitemanager.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}