Conveyancing Parramatta: Can One Conveyancer Act for Both?

In NSW, one licensed conveyancer may represent a Parramatta property buyer and seller only with written disclosure and each party's written consent. That permission does not guarantee independent advice or continued representation. If a disagreement makes it impossible to protect both clients' interests, the conveyancer must stop acting for both. The practical risk is a hurried transfer to new advisers while contract, finance and settlement deadlines remain in force.

The Transaction Was Simple Until the Parties Disagreed

Consider an off-market apartment sale in Parramatta. The buyer and seller know each other, have agreed on the price and initially believe that instructing one conveyancer will make the transaction easier.

Contracts are exchanged. Finance arrangements progress. Settlement is approaching.

Then a disagreement emerges over responsibility for a recently identified strata expense. The purchaser wants clarification and potentially a financial adjustment. The vendor believes the contract already determines responsibility and wants settlement to proceed.

Both parties now require advice about positions that may be directly opposed.

The problem is no longer whether one professional can coordinate the paperwork. It is whether that professional can continue advising both clients without compromising obligations owed to either.

That distinction is particularly important when the disagreement arises late in the transaction. The contractual settlement date does not automatically move simply because the professional representation arrangement has become unworkable.

NSW Allows Limited Shared Representation, Not Unlimited Consent

The legal position depends partly on whether the professional is a licensed conveyancer or a solicitor.

Under Schedule 2, rule 12 of the Conveyancers Licensing Regulation 2021, a licensed conveyancer may act for more than one party to a transaction only where the proposed arrangement is disclosed in writing and each party gives written consent.

The disclosure must explain important limitations. The conveyancer may be unable to disclose all relevant information to each client or provide advice that operates against another client's interests.

If the conveyancer cannot continue acting for all parties without acting contrary to the interests of one or more of them, rule 12 requires the conveyancer to cease acting for all parties.

Solicitors operate under a different professional conduct framework. The Law Society of NSW's guidance on representing a vendor and purchaser confirms that shared representation is not automatically prohibited, but rule 11 requires consideration of actual and potential conflicts.

Even informed consent does not relieve a solicitor of the responsibility to exercise independent professional judgement. Where an actual conflict develops, the applicable conduct rules determine whether withdrawal is necessary and whether any limited continuation is permissible.

In either professional setting, a signed consent form is not a permanent exemption from conflict obligations.

The Critical Moment Is When Advice Becomes Adverse

The distinction between a routine commercial question and a professional conflict is significant.

A buyer asking when settlement will occur does not, by itself, create an unmanageable conflict.

A buyer asking whether to pursue compensation while the seller asks how to reject that claim presents a very different problem.

A practitioner representing both sides may have confidential information about the purchaser's financing position, the seller's relocation deadline or a party's willingness to accept a compromise.

Such information might be commercially valuable to the opposing party, yet the professional cannot simply reveal it or use it to benefit another client.

The conflict assessment is therefore not resolved by asking whether both parties still want the sale to proceed. They may share that goal while having incompatible interests concerning how it proceeds and on what terms.

What Happens When the Shared Conveyancer Must Withdraw?

The practical response needs to distinguish the professional's obligations from the obligations already created by the property contract.

Withdrawal does not automatically cancel the sale, suspend settlement, release a deposit or change contractual rights.

Those matters remain governed by the contract and applicable law. The parties may need independent professional advice promptly to establish what should happen next.

First: Establish the Representation Position

Each client should obtain clear written confirmation of whether the practitioner is continuing to act, has identified a conflict requiring withdrawal, and what immediate administrative steps are required.

A client should not assume that the shared conveyancer can resolve an adversarial dispute merely because both clients previously authorised the engagement.

Second: Preserve the Existing Contractual Timeline

The parties need to identify imminent deadlines, including the settlement date, any contractual notice periods, lender requirements and outstanding obligations.

Where an extension is needed, it must be addressed through the contract and appropriate agreement or legal process. It should not be assumed from the existence of the conflict.

Third: Arrange Independent Representation

If the licensed conveyancer is required to cease acting for both parties, each will need to arrange suitable new representation to progress the matter.

A new adviser may need to examine the contract independently, establish what has been agreed, review outstanding enquiries and assess whether additional advice or dispute resolution is required.

If the disagreement involves contested legal rights or proceedings, the parties should obtain advice from appropriately qualified solicitors.

The File Handover Is More Complicated Than Forwarding Emails

An interrupted conveyancing file can contain documents shared between the parties, as well as communications and information confidential to individual clients.

The outgoing practitioner must handle that distinction carefully. New advisers need sufficient material to understand the transaction, but a change of representation is not permission to release one party's confidential information to the other.

Rule 13 of the NSW conveyancers' rules of conduct restricts the use or disclosure of confidential client information, subject to authorisation and applicable legal exceptions.

Conveyancing File Handover: Key Components and Risks

• Contract and variations
• What needs attention: Identify the operative signed contract, agreed amendments and special conditions.
• Potential consequence: Confusion about which obligations actually apply.
• Outstanding negotiations
• What needs attention: Distinguish agreed terms from offers, proposals and unresolved requests.
• Potential consequence: A new adviser may need to reconstruct the negotiating position.
• Client instructions
• What needs attention: Transfer authorised records appropriately while protecting confidential material.
• Potential consequence: Information may not be freely shareable between the parties.
• Lender coordination
• What needs attention: Confirm finance readiness, discharge arrangements and representative changes.
• Potential consequence: Settlement preparation may require additional coordination.
• Electronic conveyancing
• What needs attention: Confirm authorised subscribers, client authorisations, lodgement documents and workspace readiness.
• Potential consequence: Incomplete or changed electronic arrangements may delay completion.
• Costs and funds
• What needs attention: Reconcile completed work, invoices, trust money and authorised payments.
• Potential consequence: Additional fees or payment questions may need to be resolved.

This is why Elyment's existing guide to changing conveyancers during an NSW settlement is relevant even where the change is caused by professional conflict rather than client dissatisfaction.

A Parramatta Settlement Dispute: The Operational Sequence

Consider a hypothetical residential sale with settlement approaching and a disagreement over the interpretation of an adjustment clause.

The buyer believes an additional amount should be credited at settlement. The seller disputes that interpretation and does not authorise the adjustment.

The shared conveyancer determines that continuing for both clients would involve acting contrary to their competing interests.

The issue now involves several connected workstreams.

1. Conflict and representation: Determine the required professional response and notify the parties appropriately.
2. Independent advice: Each side obtains advice on the disputed contractual issue and available options.
3. File transfer: Arrange an appropriate handover without improper disclosure of confidential information.
4. Settlement status: Reconfirm the contractual date, outstanding adjustments and the legal status of any proposed extension.
5. Electronic readiness: New representatives review authorisations, workspace participation, documents and financial settlement arrangements.
6. External dependencies: Coordinate any changes affecting lenders, agents, removalists, purchasers and other parties relying on completion.

None of these steps guarantees that settlement can proceed on the original date. Nor does withdrawal necessarily mean settlement will fail.

The outcome depends on the contractual position, the nature of the dispute and how promptly the parties establish workable representation.

Electronic Settlement Does Not Remove the Need for Independent Authority

NSW property transactions are generally conducted through electronic conveyancing systems. That infrastructure can coordinate documentation, financial settlement and registration activity, but it does not resolve professional conflicts.

The Audit Office of NSW's review of land titles regulation identifies client authorisation, identity verification and right-to-deal checks as important requirements for electronic conveyancing participants.

Changing a representative can therefore involve more than updating a contact name.

The incoming practitioner needs to establish their own authority to act and ensure the relevant electronic transaction is correctly managed. Applicable verification and authorisation requirements must be met.

Existing lender involvement, settlement schedules and electronic signatures may need further attention when the authorised representatives change.

Elyment's Sydney property settlement coordination framework addresses the importance of aligning documents, lenders and counterparties before completion.

The Apparent Saving Can Disappear When the Matter Becomes Adversarial

A shared representative may appear to reduce initial administration. That is not the same as demonstrating a lower total transaction cost.

If a conflict forces withdrawal, both clients may need new professional engagements. Incoming advisers may need to repeat work or undertake additional reviews.

The total cost can depend on:

• Fees properly payable for work already completed.
• New engagement fees and additional professional advice.
• Necessary contract review and document reconstruction.
• Further settlement preparation and lender coordination.
• Dispute resolution and any additional legal work.
• Contractual consequences if completion is delayed.
• External costs caused by changes to property handover plans.

These consequences are possibilities, not inevitable outcomes. Neither an initial saving nor a later duplication of fees should be assumed without examining the actual engagement terms and work performed.

Separate representation allows each party to receive advice aligned with their own interests from the beginning. Its value should be assessed as a risk-control consideration rather than merely an additional administrative charge.

Property Handover and Renovation Plans Can Also Be Affected

A conveyancing dispute can have consequences beyond the legal file.

In Parramatta and surrounding Western Sydney suburbs, a buyer may have coordinated an apartment handover with removalists, building management, renovation quotations or an existing tenancy.

A seller may simultaneously depend on settlement proceeds for another purchase or have committed to a relocation date.

Where settlement becomes uncertain, operational decisions need to be revisited carefully.

Flooring removal, painting, floor levelling and installation schedules should not be treated as proof that access or possession is legally available.

Contractors may be able to undertake off-site planning or preliminary costing, but physical access requires the relevant permissions and a suitable agreed arrangement.

Legal completion, building-management approvals and contractor availability are different requirements. A delay in one does not necessarily remove the others.

Before Agreeing to One Conveyancer, Test the Difficult Scenario

The most useful assessment is not whether the transaction currently looks straightforward. It is whether the representation arrangement remains workable if a material disagreement arises.

Both parties should independently consider:

• Whether they need confidential advice about a price, condition or negotiating limit.
• Whether finance, strata, title or disclosure matters remain unresolved.
• What happens if one party asks for changes that disadvantage the other.
• Whether the proposed representative has explained the conflict and disclosure limitations in writing.
• Whether each party understands the required withdrawal process if an unmanageable conflict develops.
• Whether a late change of adviser could disrupt a dependent settlement or property handover.

For broader legal eligibility and conflict considerations, Elyment has previously examined when a single conveyancer may act for both the buyer and seller in NSW.

The more immediate operational concern is whether the parties have a realistic response if the professional arrangement cannot continue.

Independent Advice Is a Transaction Protection, Not a Formality

A buyer and seller can agree on the commercial objective of completing a Parramatta property transaction while needing fundamentally different legal advice.

NSW rules recognise that distinction. Shared representation can be permitted in limited circumstances, but disclosure and consent do not remove professional duties or guarantee that the arrangement will remain suitable.

The cost of an emerging conflict is not confined to the conveyancer's invoice.

It can involve the urgent separation of client information, appointment of new advisers, renewed settlement preparation and the risk of disruption to property handover.

The practical lesson for Parramatta buyers and sellers is to evaluate independent advice before they need opposing advice.

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Important information: This article provides general information about NSW conveyancing rules and transaction coordination. It is not legal, financial or taxation advice. Whether a particular practitioner can act for multiple parties, must withdraw, or may continue acting depends on the applicable professional rules and the specific circumstances. Contractual rights and obligations require individual assessment by an appropriately qualified NSW practitioner.

Sources and References

1. NSW Legislation: Conveyancers Licensing Regulation 2021
2. Law Society of NSW: Guidance on Representing a Vendor and Purchaser
3. Audit Office of NSW: Regulation of the Land Titles Registry
4. Elyment: Can You Change Conveyancers Mid-Settlement in NSW? What Happens to Fees, Files and Deadlines
5. Elyment: Property Settlement Support
6. Elyment: Can the Same Conveyancer Act for the Buyer and Seller in NSW?