Property Law
Property law encompasses much more than just buying and selling houses and apartments.
- What to do if the land is contaminated?
- What to do if the land is adversely affected?
- How to obtain DA approval or to appeal to the decision of the consent authority?
- How to complain if you are impacted by an erroneous development approval?
- How to deal with upgrading and demolition orders?
- How to protect your interest in personal property (vehicles, boats, caravans, equipment, etc)?
- How to deal if someone has claimed a security interest in your property (caveat, charge, PPSR etc)
Conveyancing
Buying and selling a home is more often than not associated with stress and sleepless nights by both buyers and sellers (and sometimes real estate agents). For many Australian families, buying or selling a home is the most valuable financial transaction during their lifetime. Covenants, easements, encroachments and other unfamiliar terms may give you a big headache in no time.
How to obtain necessary searches and enquiries? How to protect your single most important asset?
Family Law and Divorce
What about the children?
The court needs to be satisfied that your children are being taken care of before a divorce will be granted, but will not expect that you have a formal agreement in place in regard to child custody.
What about property split?
You may be able to reach agreement with your ex-partner without having to go to Court. However, bear in mind that if you can’t reach agreement, a formal application for property orders must be lodged within 12 months of your divorce becoming final.
Commercial Leases
We have been acting for clients in preparing leases of premises which are to be used for commercial purposes (shops, factories and offices). Issues in such transactions are quite different from the ones occurring in dealings with residential properties.
Jovan Sarai has utilised his extensive experience with numerous commercial tenants and landlords and will assist you too.
Debt Management and Insolvency
- Are you experiencing a temporary cashflow crisis?
- Did the banks and creditors start sending nasty letters of demand?
- Are you concerned that you may lose your home or car?
- Do you want to protect your assets and credit history?
- Do you want to avoid bankruptcy?
- Are your bills piling up and becoming unmanageable?
- Do you want to stop collectors from harassing you day and night?
- Do you need to sell your house today and the market is severely underpriced?
- Do you owe more to the bank than you could sell your house for?
- Need a rescue from the negative gearing?
Protect your credit record and avoid bankruptcy!
Our existing and new clients are forced to ask these unpleasant and distressing questions on a daily basis.
Jovan Sarai has substantive knowledge of both the debtors’ rights and the creditors’ obligations in dealing with defaults and unmanageable debts. Our service may put a stop on bullying tactics and give you breathing space or to even substantially reduce your existing debt!
If you have been served with a Statement of Claim, Safe Harbour Lawyers can assist you in:
- Postponing the repayments
- Negotiating agreement to pay by installments
- Preparing a defence to the claim
- Negotiating a suitable resolution of the claim
Please note that you have 28 days to lodge a Notice of Grounds of Defence with the Court, otherwise default judgment will automatically be made against you, and the amount claimed will automatically become a judgment debt. Therefore you should seek legal advice without delay.
Debt Recovery and Debt Collection
Does someone owe you money?
Having outstanding debts can be very problematic for a business. It not only affects its cashflow, but can also tarnish an otherwise great relationship with the client. Managing how the debt is recovered is crucial if the relationship is to be maintained. And the longer a debt remains outstanding, the harder it will be to recover. The sooner you act to recover the debt, the better, before the debtor runs out of assets or even disappears. Keep in mind that legal action to recover a debt can be commenced at any time within six years from when the debt becomes “due and payable”.
Safe Harbour Lawyers can assist you with your debt recovery by:
- Drafting the initial letter of demand
- Preparing the Statement of Claim for filing in the appropriate Court, to commence proceedings
- Negotiating with the Defendant (or the Defendant’s solicitor) for a suitable resolution to the claim, such as full payment of the amount claimed, or paying by instalments
- Pursuing the claim in the appropriate Court
- Applying for a judgment debt, in the event that the defence fails
- Enforcing the judgment debt
Obtaining a judgment does not of itself guarantee immediate payment of the debt! Generally, enforcement of the judgment can be a long, drawn out, costly and frustrating process, and can lead to disillusionment with the legal system.
Jovan Sarai has a thorough understanding of enforcement procedures. We at Safe Harbour Lawyers rigorously and systematically apply the procedures whilst keeping you informed in all stages of the process.
How enforceable are the contracts you have with your customers?
Of course, the risk of having bad debts can be minimised if your business has a written contract with each of your customers – whether it is a well-drafted contract with standard terms and conditions, or whether it is a tailor made contract for individual customers.
Our specialists at Safe Harbour Lawyers can assist you by:
- Reviewing your existing terms and conditions and/or contracts
- Recommending amendments and improvements to your documents
Australian Visa Applications
When it comes to visa applications, in Safe Harbour Lawyers we follow the slogan:
” Do it right – first time, every time! “
The migration specialists in Safe Harbour Lawyers will take care of your entire case from start to finish. We will:
- Advise you of all the documents required for the process
- Prepare and assist with all the relevant forms and take care of all the paperwork
- Lodge the application with the Australian embassy, consulate or Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).
We assist in applications of all types of Australian visas including:
- Permanent visas
- Business visas
- General Skilled Migrant visas
- Working visas
- Partner visas
- Prospective Marriage visas
- Student visas
- Parent visas
- … and much more!
The Australian visa system is complex, with the immigration law and regulations changing frequently.
You will usually only have a single chance to give it a go.
Wills and Probates
With the aging population and retirement of the ‘baby-boomers’, the succession planning has rapidly become more complex and time consuming.
The traditional married couple with several children is not the prevailing family structure anymore. Present challenges with planning of your estate include:
- Same sex couples
- De-facto relationships
- Single parent families
- Blended families with children from previous relationships on one or both sides
- Single people with no close relatives
The assets and liabilities of the testators now include more complex financial products like shares, trusts, and managed funds. The complex taxation laws may impose hefty capital gain and land tax liability to the next generation unless the will is tailor-made by legal experts who have mastered awareness of the current laws and regulations.
This complexity means it is no longer prudent to use a ‘standard’ will which gives the whole estate to the spouse or to children if the spouse does not outlive the testator.
Jovan Sarai and his team offer hand crafted wills to suit your individual circumstances. We take care that your wishes are translated into legal paperwork which the executors and beneficiaries will respectfully follow.
Is the power of attorney duly executed? Are you deprived in the will of the property that is rightfully yours?
We handle and manage the whole process of obtaining probate and letters of administration armed with over 40 years of experience. We will assist you with efficacy, compassion and a caring attitude in hard times of grievance.
Deceased Estate Administration
- Is the Public Trustee too expensive?
- Does your busy schedule allow spending long hours in order to dispose the property that has been passed on to you to administer?
It is a duty of executors to take control of and to protect assets of the deceased estate. Dealings with property matters such as: real estate, shares, insurance policies, motor vehicles, superannuation funds, etc are time consuming and require an in-depth knowledge of the strict regulations as well as comprehensive documentation and tedious record keeping.
Jovan Sarai will mobilise his experiences and assist you in achieving fast and safe estate administration.
Personal Injury Claims
Workers Compensation Claims
- Have you been injured at work?
- No Win – No Fee arrangement available
It is extremely hard to obtain Legal Aid to pursue a personal injury claim and the No Win – No Fee arrangement has been developed to assist injured people obtain legal representation without being required to pay up-front the solicitor’s costs. Unsurprisingly, when you are injured and perhaps off work, money can be extremely limited and there is normally no spare cash to pay lawyer’s fees.
Please be aware that a No Win – No Fee arrangement would usually relate to your own lawyer’s costs however there are still other financial costs and issues to be considered including funding disbursements on your case (medical reports, assessor’s reports, etc.). Therefore it is extremely important that you select the right lawyer to represent you to ensure your rights are fully protected and you receive maximum monetary compensation to which you are entitled.
Motor Accident Injuries
- Have you been involved in a motor vehicle accident and sustained an injury?
If you are injured in motor accidents as a result of the fault or negligence of another participant in one of the following situations you may be entitled to claim related losses sustained from the CTP (Green Slip) insurer of the vehicle/s at fault:
- The driving of a motor vehicle;
- Action taken to avoid a collision;
- A vehicle running out of control;
- A defect in a vehicle causing the vehicle to run out of control
In Australia, all registered vehicles (cars, motorbikes, campervans, buses etc) in Australia must hold a current CTP policy of insurance. This insurance covers the driver / owner of the vehicle in respect of personal injury caused by, through or in connection with the vehicle.
However, CTP insurance only supplies coverage in respect of personal injury and related losses such as loss of earnings, medical expenses, etc and NOT for damage to a vehicle and related losses.
Public Liability Compensation Claims
- Have you been injured at a public place or at someone’s property?
If the incident occurred on private property, such as a house, or in a shop, supermarket, school, library, restaurant, etc then it will be occupier’s liability.
Injuries sustained at a public place (street, park, beach etc) attract special legal treatment applicable to statutory public authorities like Local Council’s or the State.
You may be surprised as to your entitlements to monetary compensation, medical assistance or quality of life assistance
Speak with Jovan Sarai for an effective and amicable solution to such problems or contact us to find out more or to arrange an appointment.
Vendor Finance
This creative property methodology originates in the 18th century and has remained dormant in Australia for many decades. In the light of the recent Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and chronic shortage of available funding, it has now becoming more and more popular amongst buyers and sellers. Vendor Finance enables property transactions without middle-men (i.e. banks and real estate agents).
Our in-house Vendor Finance expert Jovan Sarai has actively transacted with their own property portfolios for many years and now offer this highly specialised legal service and advice to the public.
You too can buy or sell properties utilising Instalment Contracts, Options or Deposit Finance with full compliance with ASIC regulations, National Consumer Credit Code and property legislation in your State.
Jovan Sarai is active in promoting the Vendor Finance industry and often speaks on property investment seminars countrywide.
Please contact us to obtain our heads of Agreement (HOA) template and start your first Vendor Finance transaction today.
