29WLegal practitioner or conveyancer not to act for both vendor and purchaser under a terms contract

29W Legal practitioner or conveyancer not to act for both vendor and purchaser under a terms contract

S. 29W(1) amended by No. 23/2016 s. 35(2).

(1) A legal practitioner or conveyancer whose principal place of business is within a 50 kilometre radius of the intersection of Elizabeth and Bourke Streets in Melbourne must not act for both vendor and purchaser under a terms contract.

S. 29W(2) amended by No. 23/2016 s. 35(2).

(2) If a legal practitioner or conveyancer is prohibited under subsection (1) from acting for one party to a terms contract, a legal practitioner or conveyancer who is in partnership with that legal practitioner or conveyancer, or any person employed by that legal practitioner or conveyancer must not act for that party.

S. 29W(3) amended by No. 23/2016 s. 35(3).

(3) If a legal practitioner or conveyancer contravenes this section, the purchaser for whom the legal practitioner or conveyancer has acted may rescind the contract at any time before the purchaser becomes entitled to possession or to the receipt of rents and profits.

(4) Despite subsection (3), the purchaser may not rescind the contract if the court is satisfied that—

S. 29W(4)(a) amended by No. 23/2016 s. 35(4).

(a) the legal practitioner or conveyancer has acted honestly and reasonably and ought fairly to be excused for the contravention; and

(b) the purchaser is substantially in as good a position as if all the relevant provisions of this section had been complied with.

(5) Any provision in any contract for the sale of land or other document under which any provision of this section is excluded, modified or rescinded is void.

(6) This section does not apply if any of the parties to the transaction are related to each other.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) a person is related to another person if the first-mentioned person is—

(a) the spouse, domestic partner, brother, sister, parent, child, grand-parent, grand-child, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece; or

(b) the spouse or domestic partner of a brother, sister, parent, child, grand-parent, grand‑child, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece—

of the second-mentioned person.

Pt 1 Div. 5 (Heading and ss 29WA–29WG) inserted by No. 14/2019 s. 22.