Section 32 – what the heck is it? (part 2)

by Chris on October 31, 2008

As promised, this is Section 32 in plain English for simple folks, Part 2 (if you missed the Part 1 read it here).

Road access

Make sure this section says that there is a road access to your property.

Outgoings, including Rates and Statutory Charges

All the taxes, rates, body corporate fees and charges of that sort that normally are payable on that property should be listed here. Unfortunately the law allows the vendor to just say “not exceeding …” and give you the highest amount (say, $1800) – without giving you the exact number. Personally, I find that annoying. This section should also list all the sums the vendor still owes and the interest payable on them.

Notices, Orders, Declarations, Reports, Recommendations

If any public authority or government department has approved any proposal or there is any report, notice etc. affecting your property and the vendors knows about it – they should be listed here. For example if the government is intending to compensate you and buy your property for their own purposes, it should be mentioned in this part. Also if there are repairs managed by body corporate to be done, they should be listed here.

Title

Title is a very important document attached to Section 32 – it says who owns the house. You might want to check and see that your vendor’s name is on it either as a registered proprietor of the property or as a person with the right to sell the property. Otherwise he is selling something he doesn’t own – and that obviously is a problem.

Services

All the utilities such as phone, gas, electricity, water and sewage should be listed as connected and with what provider. Why is this important? If the services are not connected there will be a connection fee, and if the provider is not the one you would like to use, connecting with someone else would also involve a fee, so you need to know about it.

You can read Part 3 of Section 32 explanation here.