North East Conveyancers

Dying Mother Belittled, Yelled At & Dumped Days Before Settlement – I engaged North East Conveyancing in April to act on my behalf because I am dying of cancer & need to buy a home & move to Adelaide from interstate with my little boy so he can be with family after I pass. This was explained to North East Conveyancing, however the second time I spoke with the Principal [Name Removed] to request help with a pre-settlement inspection just days before the settlement date, he screamed at me, swore then slammed the phone down in my ear & stormed off leaving his employee [Name Removed] Dewhurst in tears & by her own account, sitting by herself in the dark. This occurred after he had continually interrupted me, talked over the top of me, belittled me, refused many polite requests for him to listen to me without interrupting, made many contemptuous & dismissive statements such as “stop going on & on!”, “I don’t care what you want!” & “I am going to hang up on you if you don’t do as I say”. This threat was disturbing as settlement was days away & I was afraid to lose my $66,000 deposit & leave my little boy without a mother or financial legacy. I heard snorts of derision, audible groans & mocking laughter. I have only ever encountered this behaviour from dyed in the wool Sexists who despite their social masks, still believe female clients are beneath them & not worthy of being treated with respect & dignity,

Still undergoing the effects of 2 rounds of chemotherapy plus Covid, I kept my cool & remained respectful at all times but he clearly got annoyed & defensive when I said I would have appreciated being told that South Australia is the only state in Australia where a pre-settlement inspection can only be guaranteed when written into the contract, prior to me signing the sale contract which he reviewed on my behalf. He had not passed this information onto his employee [Name Removed] who had done most of the work on my file, but who unfortunately continually interrupted me when I asked her to at least ask the Agent if the inspection was possible even if not stipulated in the contract, & clearly got frustrated not understanding that my ‘crazy request’ was important to me (not least because I do not want to burden my son’s guardians with legal hassles after my death). [Name Removed] did not seem to understand that although according to him, the pre-settlement inspection “never” happens in SA, it is routinely advised as good due diligence throughout Australia. He said that it was the Selling Agent’s responsibility to advise the buyer about pre-settlement inspection clauses, then he said it was my responsibility to know about this legal quirk (I spoke with the former President of the Law Society of Tasmania & even he did not know about this rule in SA). [Name Removed] obviously has a temper & I could hear his fury building when I asked how the tenant could be held accountable for anything which is the legal responsibility of the Vendor (eg – personal property not owned by the tenant in the car space). These are just a few examples of the questionable advice I was given. The next day he terminated our agreement with less than 5 business days to settlement on June 29, the day before the busiest day in the financial calendar, falsely stating that it was me who had behaved irrationally, argumentatively & offensively & taking objection to my support person speaking politely to [Name Removed] for 30 seconds.

I cannot describe the diabolical harm [Name Removed]’s anger issues & poor advice have done to a dying Mum & her innocent child who needed to be spending the last few days enjoying calm time in his mother’s loving embrace & not crying to see her so upset & not knowing if we will have a home to go to before it is too late. It is heartbreaking. Those close to death are special & see things others don’t. I hope [Name Removed]’s day of reckoning when he may finally have enough moral integrity to drop his ego & contempt of those he considers less than equal, comes well before his own inevitable death & the death of those close to him. I cannot recommend [Name Removed] & North East Conveyancing.