00:00 A short walk from the beach in Mackay, central Queensland, Christine Anderson's home should
00:08 have been an easy sell, except it was the height of COVID.
00:13 The open homes were cancelled and everything like that.
00:16 The real estate agent said it's going to go stale and nobody wants it.
00:21 When a buyer was found, Christine discovered both sides would be using the same law firm.
00:27 She signed paperwork agreeing to the arrangement, but ended up regretting the decision.
00:33 This is probably the worst of all the convincing of buying and selling that I've done.
00:37 Conflicts between Christine and the buyer arose.
00:41 They disagreed over repairs, access to the house and when the tenant should leave.
00:46 The law firm had different divisions working on the sale, but Christine was unhappy with
00:51 the arrangement and shifted to another firm.
00:54 I was just getting so overwhelmed and yet the solicitor in the next door room is making
01:04 the demands.
01:05 In a letter to Christine Anderson, the law firm said it acted appropriately at all times.
01:11 All reasonable steps were taken to represent your interests faithfully and diligently and
01:16 you have no legitimate grounds for any grievance.
01:20 The rules of conduct for solicitors say when conflict arises, they may only continue to
01:25 act in exceptional circumstances.
01:28 It's a key reason why the Law Society recommends against acting for both parties.
01:34 The big problem is that if it goes wrong, it goes badly wrong.
01:38 South Australian conveyancer Michelle Hendry refuses to act for both sides.
01:43 I truly believe that you can't represent both parties in their best interests.
01:48 Something Christine wants others to consider before signing on the dotted line.
01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments