Joint tenancy pertains to property ownership in which each party on the title to the property holds an individual interest in the property. An example of a joint tenancy is the ownership over a house by a married couple. In this situation, joint tenancy comes with the ''right of survivorship''. That means that when one of the joint tenants dies, the interest of the deceased joint tenant automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant or tenants and does not form part of the estate of the deceased.
Tenancy in common, on the other hand, refers to ownership over a certain property by parties who do not automatically have a right of survivorship (for example friends or siblings). They are co-owners of the property, however their shares and interest over the property do not have to be equal and depend entirely on the agreed shares of the parties. In a tenancy in common arrangement, if one of the parties dies their interest in the property forms part of the deceased’s estate and does not automatically pass on to any co-owner of the property.
Recent changes to the sale of land act requires vendors and agents to disclose ‘material facts’ which they are aware of to a prospective buyer when selling property.
A material fact is something that would be important to a potential purchaser in deciding whether or not to buy i.e. something which influences a purchaser in deciding whether or not to buy at all, or to buy only at a certain price.
Examples as to what this would cover are note below, please note this list is NOT exhaustive:
• presence of asbestos/contaminants;
• there has been a significant event at the property, including a flood, or a bushfire;
• the underlying cause of an obvious physical defect is not readily apparent upon inspection (for example, whilst a large uncovered crack in a wall would be obvious to a purchaser upon inspection, the underlying reason for the crack, such as defective stumping, may not);
• building work or other work done without a required building permit, planning permit or that is otherwise illegal;
• the property during the current or previous occupation has been the scene of a serious crime or an event which may create long-term potential risks to the health and safety of occupiers of the land, such as: extreme violence such as a homicide, use for the manufacture of substances such as methylamphetamine; and
• frequent noise disturbances from neighbours etc.
Please advise if there are any material facts which you are aware of which need to be disclosed in the contract.