Management Company Or Not? Urgent Pls

We are buying a freehold property in a fairly new estate (6yrs old). The seller bought this property as soon as it was built. The seller has stated that there is no management company involved with that property and that she pays no maintenance as well as her neighbours but the transfer deed mentions a management company and their responsibilities; very long and generalistic responsibilities by each party involved. The 8th schedule (deed of covenant) was neither signed nor dated by anyone but there are signatures of the builders, Management Company and seller on the very last page ("executed as a deed"). My question is- is there a management company or not? I need your advice on how to go about this, please.

14 Answers

The deed of covenant will only be a draft to be used in respect of future sales so you can ignore that. It is not unusual for a builder to set out provisions for a management company but then not to follow through and clear the company. Just make sure that there are no restrictions on title which need to be complied with in order to register you as the owner. If there are none then you should be able to take what the seller says at face value. You can of course sue the seller for misrepresentation if it turns out that there is an operational management company.

Thanks for your time and reply. I really do appreciate it.

Hi, it's me again! From what I can see on the transfer, it looks like there is are restrictive covenants entered by both developer and "management company" which might mean our names cannot be registered on the title without entering a deed of covenant with the "management company"..... How do I go about taking out these restrictive covenants especially since there is no management company?

Hi

It is not the covenant themselves necessarily need to be concerned about. You cannot simply remove these covenants. There is a process for getting rid of defunct covenants but this is lengthy and difficult. What you are looking for is a restriction on restrictions in the proprietorship Register of the official copy of register of title. There are many different types of restriction but basically if there is one it will say that you cannot register a change of ownership without obtaining a consent or performing some other action. You do need to be careful because if there is a restriction which you don't deal with properly then you will not be able to be registered as the owner.

Hi

It is not the covenant themselves necessarily need to be concerned about. You cannot simply remove these covenants. There is a process for getting rid of defunct covenants but this is lengthy and difficult. What you are looking for is a restriction on restrictions in the proprietorship Register of the official copy of register of title. There are many different types of restriction but basically if there is one it will say that you cannot register a change of ownership without obtaining a consent or performing some other action. You do need to be careful because if there is a restriction which you don't deal with properly then you will not be able to be registered as the owner.

Hi

It is not the covenant themselves necessarily need to be concerned about. You cannot simply remove these covenants. There is a process for getting rid of defunct covenants but this is lengthy and difficult. What you are looking for is a restriction on restrictions in the proprietorship Register of the official copy of register of title. There are many different types of restriction but basically if there is one it will say that you cannot register a change of ownership without obtaining a consent or performing some other action. You do need to be careful because if there is a restriction which you don't deal with properly then you will not be able to be registered as the owner.

Hi

It is not the covenant themselves necessarily need to be concerned about. You cannot simply remove these covenants. There is a process for getting rid of defunct covenants but this is lengthy and difficult. What you are looking for is a restriction on restrictions in the proprietorship Register of the official copy of register of title. There are many different types of restriction but basically if there is one it will say that you cannot register a change of ownership without obtaining a consent or performing some other action. You do need to be careful because if there is a restriction which you don't deal with properly then you will not be able to be registered as the owner.

Hi

It is not the covenant themselves necessarily need to be concerned about. You cannot simply remove these covenants. There is a process for getting rid of defunct covenants but this is lengthy and difficult. What you are looking for is a restriction on restrictions in the proprietorship Register of the official copy of register of title. There are many different types of restriction but basically if there is one it will say that you cannot register a change of ownership without obtaining a consent or performing some other action. You do need to be careful because if there is a restriction which you don't deal with properly then you will not be able to be registered as the owner.

Thank you! We have now spoken with the developer and it appears that there shouldn't have been a management company for the property and all the covenants were in error. They have ordered for an RX4 form. How long should it take to resolve this with the RX4 form and is this enough ro make covenants void? Thank you!

Hi,

The rx4 will deal with the removal of the restriction so that a transfer can be registered without the consent.of the management company (assuming it os properly prepared and signed) but this will not remove the covenants, for which a deed of release would be needed.

Thank you so so much for all the reply. We have been so stressed with this house buying process; some days we just feel like giving up. This was a no chain transaction which started in May. Any idea, how long this RX4 process takes, generally?

The RX4 form will be registered following completion so you don't need to worry how long that will take. Preparation and signing of the form ormcan be completed in a day or so.

Thanks a lot for all the advice. Very much appreciated!!!! You have been very helpful.

This seems like a great advice!