Understanding Requisitions on Title in Your South Australia Property Contract

Plain English Definition

"Requisitions on Title" are formal questions or legal demands sent by a buyer’s conveyancer to the seller to clarify the property's legal status and ensure the title is "clean." In a South Australia property contract, this process allows the buyer to verify that the seller has the legal right to sell the land and that no hidden debts, easements, or encumbrances will haunt the buyer after settlement.

The Danger Zone: Buyer's Risk

• Strict Time Limits: Under the standard REISA Contract, you typically have a very narrow window (often 14 days) to raise objections to the title; if your conveyancer misses this deadline, you may be legally deemed to have accepted every defect or encumbrance on the property.
• Undisclosed Encumbrances: If a restrictive covenant or "right of way" is not discovered through the requisition process, you could be legally barred from building extensions, pools, or secondary dwellings on your new land.
• Inherited Financial Debt: In South Australia, certain debts like land tax arrears or emergency services levies "run with the land," meaning if you don't requisition the status of these payments, you could be forced to pay thousands of dollars in the previous owner's unpaid taxes.
• Boundary and Encroachment Disputes: If a neighbour’s garage or fence is built over the property line and you fail to requisition the vendor about boundary alignment, you may lose the right to force a correction after settlement.
• Loss of Rescission Rights: Requisitions are your primary tool to uncover "latent defects" in the title; failing to ask the right questions means you lose the ability to withdraw from the contract if the seller’s ownership is found to be flawed.
• Illegal Structures: If the vendor has built a deck or shed without council approval, a thorough requisition can help identify these risks; without it, you may face council demolition orders and heavy fines shortly after moving in.

Real-Life South Australia Scenario

Wei, an investor from Shanghai, purchased a residential property in Glenelg using a standard REISA Contract. His legal representative failed to send a specific requisition regarding a registered encumbrance that limited the height of future buildings to protect a neighbour's sea view. After settlement, Wei’s plans to build a second storey were rejected by the council due to this title restriction, causing the property's potential value to plummet by $200,000. Because the requisition period had passed, Wei had no legal grounds to sue the vendor for the oversight. The Lesson: Never assume the Form 1 disclosure covers everything; your conveyancer must use Requisitions on Title to probe for hidden restrictions that could ruin your investment.