Often, the vendor (seller) would have the mistaken idea that the purchaser (buyer)’s lawyer is representing him in the sale and purchase agreement. In reality, the lawyer is acting only for the buyer and not the seller.

It is common that seller may choose not to be represented by a lawyer and forgo his rights to engage a lawyer to represent him due to either not wanting to fork out legal fees or being unable to do so. Some may be even claim that I “shared” with buyer’s lawyer or unaware that they have the right to appoint their own lawyer to represent them.

Lawyer should not put himself in Conflict of interest

It is clearly stated in the Solicitor Remuneration Order 2005,each party to a conveyancing transaction should be represented by a solicitor and a solicitor should not represent more than one party in a conveyancing transaction.

There is not such thing called “shared lawyer”

1. In most circumstances, the seller “shared lawyer” would generally mean that the seller is unrepresented.
2. Since only the buyer is represented, all the terms and condition of the sale and purchase agreement may be unfair to seller or even one-sided, the seller may not read through the terms and conditions of the sale and purchase agreement as many do not understand the legal jargon used;
3. The buyer’s lawyer do not negotiate or vet through the sale and purchase agreement on behalf of seller. The buyer’s lawyer has the absolute right not to follow any instructions from the seller.

Delay

1. The buyer’s lawyer is not required to report any progress to the seller. He must conduct his own follow–ups in ensuring that the transaction proceeds within the time frame provided in the sale and purchase agreement;
2. The seller may not always be kept up to date on the current status of the transaction as the buyer’s lawyer owes a duty to the buyer and not to the seller. The seller may not even know that the transaction has gone way beyond the stipulated time;
3. The buyer’s lawyer is under no obligation to recover late payment interest from the buyer if the transaction has exceeded the completion time;
4. If the property is encumbered, the seller must continue service the loan installment until the the buyer’s lawyer attend to the redemption of the property from the seller’s financier. 

Missing Documents

1. The buyer’s lawyer is under no obligation to recover important documents or obtain any documents on your behalf;
2. The buyer’s lawyer is under no obligation to carry out the Perfection of Title (POT) or Perfection of Charge (POC) on behalf of the seller if the strata title has been issued;
3. There is a chances for the title deed may go missing in buyer’s lawyer possession if the purchase price has yet to settle.

Mistake in filing Tax Returns

1. The buyer lawyer may assist in preparing your real property gains tax returns but they are not going to be responsible if there is serious error in filing tax return;
2. The seller must bear the consequences of paying penalty if the tax returns were not filed within 60 days from the date of signing of Sale and Purchase Agreement.

Then if I were unrepresented, why the buyer’ lawyer still charge me?

In the event that the seller is unrepresented, the seller may request the buyer’s solicitor to assist in preparing his discharge of charge, filing real property gains tax returns, land search or bankruptcy search throughout the transaction. The seller would, of course, bear the fees and disbursements of the buyer’s solicitor for these matters. Nevertheless, this do not mean that the lawyer is representing the seller. The buyer lawyer only doing these out of gratuitous gesture with nominal fees allowed by the Solicitor Remuneration Order 2005.

Appoint your own lawyer now!

Therefore, it is important for each party to appoint his own lawyer and to be represented in a conveyancing transaction. A lawyer will ensure that his client’s rights and interests are protected at all times when the terms and conditions in the sale and purchase agreement are being negotiated and during the course of the transaction to its conclusion.

It is certainly advisable not to save on legal fees by not appointing one’s own lawyer in a sale and purchase of property. When problems or disputes arise in a transaction, seller would only incur additional costs in trying to resolve them.

Declaration of non-representation

If the seller insisted not to be represented, the seller must sign Declaration of Non-Representation and Letter of Disclaimer upon signing of Sale and Purchase Agreement. In the event of that any incident happens, the buyer’s lawyer is not legally liable to the unrepresented party.
The above principles also apply to the in project work between the developer and the buyer, and the lawyer can only represent one party, that is, the developer, or the buyer.