133 / 294
3. The lack of uniformity in the costs charged to the
purchaser/mortgagor particularly where the sale is by
way of building agreement and agreements for lease.
The Council propose to make representations to
building societies and other lending institutions with a
view to having the mortgagee's solicitor's costs added to
the amount of the advance or alternatively to have the
nding institutions bear their own costs.
The Council have passed the following resolutions to
deal with the other two factors :
1. Agreements for the sale of new houses should not
unduly restrict the title offered to the purchaser and
should provide for the furnishing to the purchase with-
out cost to him of all copy documents and declarations
necessary to enable him to obtain a loan. In particular
the following documents should be furnished to the
purchaser where applicable without charge :
Copy documents of book of title including certified
copy negative searches.
Statutory declaration of identity.
Certificate of compliance with building covenant.
Lease map.
Indemnities as to roads and services.
Cerificate under Section 72 of the Registration of
Title Act, 1964.
In the opinion of the Council the charges in respect
of these items should properly be borne by the lessor or
vendor.
The Council disapprove of the imposition on the
lessee or purchaser by the solicitor for the lessor or
vendor of charges for postage and petty outlay.
2. The Council recommend the following basis of
charging the first lessee or purchaser of a new house
including cases in which the transaction is carried out
by way of building agreement and agreement for lease,
and regardless of whether the lessor's or vendor's title
is registered or unregistered : In the case of houses
costing not less than £5,000 and not more than
£10
,000
a charge of 2 per cent where there is a mortgage con-
temporaneous with the mortgage and a charge of 1J
per cent where there is no contemporaneous mortgage.
Where the purchase price is less than £5,000 a charge
of not more than £80 should be made. No recommen-
dation is made in respect of transactions for more than
£10,000. The recommended charges are exclusive of
disbursements.
Recommended fee
Purchase price
Purchase
Purchase with
without mortgage contemporaneous
mortgage
£5,000
£75
£100
£6,000
£90
£120
£7,000
£105
£140
£8,000
£120
£160
£9,000
£135
£180
£10,000
£150
£200
Over £10,000
no recommendation
Where the price does not exceed £5,000 the fee
should not exceed £80 in any case.
3. The Council are of the opinion that the costs of a
vendor lessor or builder of a new house should not be
charged to lessee purchaser or employer.
LANDLORD AND TENANT AMENDMENT (ACT), 1971
Important Notice
The attention of members is again drawn to the infor-
mation at page 17 of the Society's
Gazette
for January
1972. Section 11 of the Act gives further opportunity
to landlords of less than six controlled dwellings to
apply to the District Court to have the basic rent of
any or all of these dwellings reviewed. This is a repe-
tition of the provisions of Section 8 (1) (a) of the Rent
Restrictions Act 1960 as amended by Section 4 (1) of
the 1967 Act. The provision originally had a life of two
years but many landlords who would have been entitled
to make use of the provision apparently were unaware
of their existence and many practitioners may not have
fully appreciated the purpose of the extremely complex
Section 4 of the 1967 Act. Such landlords have now
been given a further year from 7th December 1971 to
bring applications for a review to the District Court.
This provision was inserted following representations
made some time ago by the Council and members
should pay particular attention to it as it is extremely
unlikely that the statutory period will ever again be
extended and members who omit to take account ox
the extension and who advise their clients accordingly
may leave themselves open to proceedings for negli-
gence. At the date of writing the Landlord and Tenant
(Amendment) At 1971 is not yet on sale at the Govern-
ment Publications Sales Office. Members may be able to
obtain copies of the Bill as passed by both Houses.
Representations have been made to the Department oi
Justice and to the Stationery Office.
LOCAL AUTHORITY SOLICITORS ASSOCIATION
The annual general meeting of the Association was held
on Friday, 10th March 1972, at the Solicitors' Buildings,
Four Courts, Dublin. The following officers were elected.
Chairman,
Michael J. Leech;
Hon. Secretary/Treas-
urer,
Dermot Loftus;
Committee,
Messrs Timothy Mur-
phy, Peter A. Fitzpatrick, Donal M. King, Henry Mur-
ray and William Dundon.
Tributes were paid to the former Chairman of the
Association, the late Mr. Dermod M. F. Walsh, Law
Agen, Dublin Corporation, and the meeting adjourned
for an interval as a mark of respect. In proposing a vote
of sympathy to the relatives of the late Mr. Walsh and
also to the Dublin City and County Manager, Mr.
William Dundon said that not alone had the Associa-
tion lost a loyal colleague, but that the profession as a
whole would be much the poorer at Mr. Walsh's death.
Following the annual general meeting a seminar was
held, during the course of which papers on the follow-
ing subjects were given :
(a) "Sales under Section 90 of the Housing Act, 1966,
and the Effect of the Housing (Loan Charges Contri-
bution and Management) Regulations, 1967, thereon
by William Dundon, City Solicitor, Limerick.
.
(b) "The implications of the decision in Listowe»
U.D.C. v MacDonagh (105 I.L.T.R. 99)" by Timothy
Murphv. County Solicitor, Kerry.
(c) "Relator Proceedings" by Michael J. Leech, LaW
Agent, Dun Laoghaire Corporation.
(d) A talk on "Land Acquisition Problems" was gi
ven
jointly by Brendan Kieman, B.L., Legal
Adviser,
Department of Local Government, and Michael Mn
f
*
phy, B.L. Assistant Legal Adviser, Department of
Loca
Government.
132