Paying two bills

I received a call from a client’s customer, again, with the question: why do I have to pay legal fees again?!

This is the typical question I get from the public who is buying property knowing nuts about what legal costs involved!

First, lets get the facts clear, this person is my client (bank)’s customer, ie, she is a borrower who has just purchased a property. As the Purchaser, she has paid the legal fees and disbursements (stamp duty and all) in respect of the Sale and Purchase Agreement. However, as she is applying for a bank loan to finance her purchase of the property, she has to fork out another sum of money for the documentations. But after we have prepared the documents for her and called her for an appointment to sign the documents and informed of the bill, she went: I thought I paid you all already?

So I explained to her that, the payment she made to us earlier was in relation of the Sale and Purchase Agreement, and the stamp duty paid thereon was for the Sale and Purchase Agreement and the Transfer documents etc. The documents she is signing now is the loan documents between herself and the bank, which is another set of documents and which is payable with separate stamp duty and of course our legal fee for the preparation of the loan documents!

Get this:

A purchaser has to pay for the legal fees and disbursement for the Sale and Purchase Agreement; and

unless the purchaser is buying the Property with cash, has to be pay the legal fees and disbursement for the Loan Documentation!

 

It’s become quite often that I need to explain this to people so I thought I should blog about it… what bewilders me is that, how can a person who do not even know they have to pay separately for the Sale and Purchase Agreement and Loan Document made the decision to purchase a property worth tens of thousands? They don’t research before their purchase at all?