Seller Disclosure Statements by Keylaw

Whether you’re listing a property or selling your home, we make the Queensland disclosure requirements simple.

For Sellers:

No stress. No legal jargon. No hidden fees.

We prepare your disclosure statement free of chargeĀ (you’ll need to pay third party costs for searches – these typically range from $126 – $423.90)

āœ… No legal fees
āœ… Prepared by lawyers
āœ… Delivered fast so your sale isnā€™t delayed
āœ… Compliant with the new laws
āœ… Simple online process

For Agents:

We make compliance easy for you and your sellers. You provide a few details, and we take it from there.

āœ… Free legal preparation for your sellers
āœ… Fast turnaround
āœ… Search ordering + legals handled for you
āœ… Keeps listings moving

Beat the Deadline

The new rules start 1 August. Most contracts will require disclosure by mid-July.
Letā€™s get it sorted.

Resources:

Breakdown of Costs for a Standard Disclosure Statement

House and Land

Search Cost
Legal Fees $0
Title Search $33.00
Plan Search $35.00
Land Check Report $58.85
TOTAL $126.85

Unit/Townhouse

Search Cost
Legal Fees $0
Title Search $33.00
Plan Search $35.00
Land Check Report $58.85
Information Statement $208.65
CMS $88.40
TOTAL $423.90

*The amounts above are for the standard suite of searches. You may require additional searches depending on your knowledge of your property. For example, if you are unsure whether your property is on a Heritage Register, we would order a search to confirm at a cost of $68.68.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Provide a few basic details at disclosure.keylaw.com.auĀ 

  2. The seller gets a secure link to our online portal

  3. We prepare the disclosure statement and, once signed off by the seller, send it to the seller and agent along with all required documents.

Keylaw does not charge fees for the preparation of a Queensland Disclosure Statement. The only costs the seller will incur are the costs of the searches required to complete the Disclosure StatementĀ 

The searches that are needed to prepare a disclosure statement depend on the particular property and the owner’s knowledge of that property.

For example, a seller is required to disclose whether the property is recorded on the Environmental Management or Contaminated Land Register. Many owners will know whether their property is recorded on either register. If you are confident the property does not appear on either register you are able to notify the buyer on their disclosure statement the status of your property relating to contamination.Ā 

If you do not know the status of the property we will conduct and review a search of the register before the contamination status of the land is disclosed in the disclosure statement.

The cost of the searches will depend on how much information the seller of the property knows about the property. For a house where the seller knows the property is not contaminated and there are no water or sewage drains running through the property, the search costs should be between $120-$180. For units the search costs should be between $350-$400.

The searches that will need to be included vary with each property and will depend on not only the nature of the property but also what documents the seller has in their possession.Ā 

There are some searches that must be included in the disclosure statement irrespective of the unique nature of the property.

These include:

  • A title search and survey plan for a house
  • A CMS and a body corporate certificate, if applicableĀ 
  • A pool safety certificate, if applicable
  • A copy of any notices, orders or applications under various legislation
  • Complying notices if owner builder work has been undertaken on the property in the previous 6 years

A Disclosure Statement does not have any expiry date. What is required is that the information contained in the Statement is true at the time it is given to the buyer of the property.Ā 

If some information that is included in the statement changes, for example, the seller receives a new rates or body corporate levy notice, then an updated Disclosure Statement should be created without delay so that it is accurate when it is given to the buyer.

At an auction, the buyer is taken to have signed the contract when the auctioneer’s hammer falls, even if they actually sign the contract at a later time.

The onus is on the seller and their real estate agent to prove the buyer received a Disclosure Statement before they signed the contract or the auction ends.

For buyers who were registered bidders at the auction they should be given either a physical copy of the Statement or an electronic copy.Ā 

If the buyer was not a registered bidder at the start of the auction but registers as a bidder during the auction that buyer should be given a copy of the Disclosure Statement at the time they register to bid.

The Disclosure Statement must be accurate at the time it is given to the buyer. It is a legal document and must be accurate and the information contained in the Statement truthful.

There are a number of circumstances in which a buyer may terminate a contract for non-compliance with the sellers disclosure obligations.

No seller disclosure given

If the seller does not give any disclosure statement to a buyer the buyer can terminate the contract any time up to the settlement of the property.

If a prescribed certificates are not given

If any one of the prescribed certificates are not give to the buyer before they sign the contract the buyer can terminate the contract any time up to the settlement of the property.

The information in the disclosure statement is not accurate or complete at the time it is given

In this circumstance the buyer can terminate the contract any time up to the settlement of the property if;

  1. The inaccuracy relates to a material matter, and
  2. Had the buyer had been aware of that matter when they signed the contract they would not have signed the contract.

Non compliance with other legislation

A buyer may have rights under other legislation to terminate a contract if the information in the disclosure is incorrect. For example a buyer may be able to terminate a contract under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 if a seller fails to give the buyer a notice about contamination on the land.

If you are selling a property with a pool, if the property is not in a community scheme, you must provide a pool certificate as a part of the disclosure unless you are selling the property without a pool safety certificate in which case you must include a notice of no pool safety certificate (in the approved form) as a part of your Disclosure Statement.

The disclosure regime in Queensland does not require a seller to disclosure whether their property has ever been subject to flooding.

The choices a seller of property in Queensland have for the preparation of their Disclosure Statement are;

Do it yourself.Ā 

Unless you have a good legal knowledge of property law and access to all the prescribed forms and certificates required to complete a compliant disclosure statement it is not advisable for a seller to attempt to complete their own Disclosure Statement as the risks created by a buyer having a right to terminate a contract up until settlement are significant.

Have your agent complete it

Unless your agent is legally qualified or has a good legal knowledge of property law it is inadvisable for an agent to complete a Disclosure Statement for a seller. Apart from the risk of getting it wrong it could be seen that your agent is unlawfully performing legal work for which they are not qualified to perform. This could be the case if they give you any advice on how to complete the Disclosure Statement.

Use a search company app

There are a number of search company applications and companies being created to provide disclosure statements to sellers of property in Queensland. When assessing if this option is right for you should consider if the disclosure statement they offer is generated simply on the answers provided on the app or whether your properties uniqueness will be taken into account. You should also consider the cost and whether the provider will accept liability for the accuracy of the disclosure their system produces.

Use the Keylaw Disclosure Statement system

As one of Australia’s largest law firms practicing exclusively in residential conveyancing, we have the skills and knowledge to develop our Australian-first disclosure statement service that makes the process of creating a compliant disclosure statement ridiculously simple for a seller of residential property in Queensland. Keylaw will keep the Seller and their real estate agent fully up to date with the status of the disclosure statement preparation.

There are no hidden fees, in fact no fees at all, just the cost of the searches need to complete the disclosure statement.Ā