Hi there, was wondering if anyone could help with this issue please.
I purchased a hotel apartment at the end of last year. Conditions on S&P agreement included it being removed from hotel pool and granted RRC (residential resource consent, with all consent conditions met, fees paid, etc) prior to settlement. This appeared to go smoothly; RRC was issued by Council just before settlement and I rented the apartment out.
Last month out of the blue I had an email from Council informing me I was liable for a large fee (around $19K) that was supposed to have been paid by the previous owner (I'll call them the "vendor") as part of RRC process. My solicitor investigated and the full story emerged...
In Sep 2014 Council invoiced the vendor for the $19K. But vendor was evasive and dishonest and didn't pay. By the time Council got around to threatening them with debt collection action, vendor had (somehow!) obtained RRC from Council and sold the property to me. By law the new owner is responsible for any unfulfilled conditions of the RRC. So the Council, no longer able to legally enforce payment from the vendor, cancelled the vendor's invoice and came after me instead.
My solicitor recently contacted the vendor (who is unemployed). The vendor acknowledged the debt is theirs, and wrote to Council offering to pay the debt by weekly installments. Obviously, the Council will not accept payment from the vendor.
My solicitor suggests civil action against the vendor for the full amount. But vendor appears to have no job or assets, and I don't savour being drip-fed with tiny payments over an extended period of time from someone who is evidently dishonest and unreliable.
This all annoys the crap out of me, as I'm the innocent party left to sort out this mess due largely to a series of stupid errors by Council:
1. Failing to collect the money owed to them by the vendor before I even bought the apartment.
2. Granting RRC even though an important condition of consent (payment of the fee) hadn't been satisfied.
3. Allowing ownership of the property to be transferred when they had a large outstanding debt against it. Their internal systems must be a disaster, as it seems they didn't even know the property had been sold until the vendor told them.
Is there any way that instead of having to deal with the vendor I can legally refuse to pay the Council for this debt that I have not incurred, given that it was Council's ineptitude that created the situation in the first place?
Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks in advance!
I purchased a hotel apartment at the end of last year. Conditions on S&P agreement included it being removed from hotel pool and granted RRC (residential resource consent, with all consent conditions met, fees paid, etc) prior to settlement. This appeared to go smoothly; RRC was issued by Council just before settlement and I rented the apartment out.
Last month out of the blue I had an email from Council informing me I was liable for a large fee (around $19K) that was supposed to have been paid by the previous owner (I'll call them the "vendor") as part of RRC process. My solicitor investigated and the full story emerged...
In Sep 2014 Council invoiced the vendor for the $19K. But vendor was evasive and dishonest and didn't pay. By the time Council got around to threatening them with debt collection action, vendor had (somehow!) obtained RRC from Council and sold the property to me. By law the new owner is responsible for any unfulfilled conditions of the RRC. So the Council, no longer able to legally enforce payment from the vendor, cancelled the vendor's invoice and came after me instead.
My solicitor recently contacted the vendor (who is unemployed). The vendor acknowledged the debt is theirs, and wrote to Council offering to pay the debt by weekly installments. Obviously, the Council will not accept payment from the vendor.
My solicitor suggests civil action against the vendor for the full amount. But vendor appears to have no job or assets, and I don't savour being drip-fed with tiny payments over an extended period of time from someone who is evidently dishonest and unreliable.
This all annoys the crap out of me, as I'm the innocent party left to sort out this mess due largely to a series of stupid errors by Council:
1. Failing to collect the money owed to them by the vendor before I even bought the apartment.
2. Granting RRC even though an important condition of consent (payment of the fee) hadn't been satisfied.
3. Allowing ownership of the property to be transferred when they had a large outstanding debt against it. Their internal systems must be a disaster, as it seems they didn't even know the property had been sold until the vendor told them.
Is there any way that instead of having to deal with the vendor I can legally refuse to pay the Council for this debt that I have not incurred, given that it was Council's ineptitude that created the situation in the first place?
Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks in advance!
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