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Published February 4, 2012

New sale conditions favour buyers

By MICHELLE TAN


THE Law Society of Singapore's latest edition of Conditions of Sale 2012 for property transactions seem to stand more on the side of future buyers than sellers, according to an expert.

For instance, new conditions protecting the buyer's interest include a warranty from the vendor to the buyer that he has not carried out any unauthorised additions or alterations to the property as well as a three-month maximum postponement of the scheduled completion of sale from the date of death, in the event of the passing of either buyer or vendor.

More pertinently, such provisions did not exist in the past, and their implementation in the revised edition only goes to show that the new set of Conditions of Sale is shifting the bargain in favour of the buyer and away from the caveat emptor principle of 'buyer beware'.

Other new conditions that stand out include those that relate to the risk of damage, which will remain with the vendor and will only be passed to the buyer upon completion of the sale or when the buyer takes possession of the property, whichever is earlier. When asked whether the latest changes would place sellers in a more compromising position, Lee Liat Yeang, partner at Rodyk & Davidson LLP, commented that most of the changes are unlikely to 'unduly disadvantage' the seller.

In fact, Mr Lee highlighted that Condition 4 actually favours the seller by allowing him to rescind the option or affirm it when faced with a dishonoured cheque payment.

Mr Lee also pointed out that the new conditions were likely to have been passed to address several prevailing issues of concern for real estate lawyers such as the balancing of interests between buyer and seller. In addition, it also served to introduce new provisions in line with policy changes impacting property transactions as well as delete redundant conditions in the 1999 edition.