Buyer Avoided an Uncontrolled Default After Finance Fell Through

Illustrative image. It does not depict an Aquarius Lawyers office, staff member, client, property, matter, or outcome.

The story

Transaction

Purchase

Jurisdiction

NSW

Focus

Finance condition and post-exchange risk

Situation

The client’s situation

A purchaser exchanged on a residential property believing finance was effectively approved. The lender then changed its serviceability assessment and would not issue unconditional approval. With the contract timetable already running, the purchaser risked losing the deposit or being pursued for loss if they simply refused to settle.

How Aquarius Lawyers helped

How Aquarius Lawyers helped

We reviewed the cooling-off position, finance wording and negotiated special conditions, then mapped every notice deadline. Rather than treating the lender’s decision as an automatic right to walk away, we identified the contractual pathway available, prepared the required notice and communicated with the vendor’s solicitor before the right expired.

Documented outcome

The documented outcome

The transaction ended under the available contractual mechanism, avoiding an uncontrolled default and giving the purchaser a documented exit rather than a last-minute failure to settle.

What this story shows

A buyer should never assume “subject to finance” means they can terminate whenever finance becomes difficult. The exact drafting, evidence required and notice deadline matter.

This is an approved, anonymised success story about a matter handled by Aquarius Lawyers. It is general information, not legal advice. The facts, contract and law applying to another transaction may produce a different outcome.