Holman Webb Lawyers is proud to relay that the firm has been listed as a finalist in two categories in the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2021:

• Law Firm of the Year
• Insurance Team of the Year

Click through for more information on this year's finalists, and upcoming winner announcements.

In August 2020, Holman Webb published warnings regarding cyber safety, scammers, hackers and dodgy money transfers - with a particular focus on the crucial need to take extra precautions when transferring money to third parties.

In the recent case of Deligiannidou v Sundarjee [2020] NSWSC 437, we see just how cunning hackers have become, and why not doing your due diligence prior to transferring large sums of money can be financially devastating.

The temporary measures put in place by the Government in March this year which:

1. increased the monetary threshold at which creditors can issue a Bankruptcy Notice to $20,000; and
2. increased the time period in which a recipient of a Bankruptcy Notice has to respond to a Statutory Demand from 21 days to 6 months,

have now been extended until 31 December 2020.

As property lawyers, we are often asked about what is happening in the property market.  We are currently living in time of great uncertainty, with the COVID-19 pandemic impacting not only how we go about our daily lives, but also the economy – in a significant way.  With this said, and despite what you may hear, the Eastern Suburbs’ housing market continues to strengthen – much of which stems from a chronic shortage of listings, combined with low interest rates.

Two new laws have been passed to restore public confidence in the NSW building industry and to stop 'dodgy' builders and developers:

• Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020
• Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020

The laws are part of the reforms promised by the NSW government in order to improve the quality of construction and provide better protections for consumers against non-compliance within the building sector. 

Recent reports that former NRL player Benny Elias was scammed out of $860,000 when hackers impersonated his lawyer during a property transaction come as an important reminder to be extra careful when transferring money online.

Do you have a family trust in New South Wales? 

It is important to note that you may need to make urgent (by 31 December 2020) changes to your trust deed, to ensure that you don't pay extra stamp duty or land tax.

During a weekend in San Francisco in 2008, when all of the hotels were sold out for a design conference, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia decided to rent out an air-mattress in their apartment on Rausch Street.  It is unlikely that the person hosted by Brian and Joe that weekend had any idea that they were the first guest of what would become the  global business known as Airbnb.

SKY NEWS property expert and CEO of Your Empire, Chris Gray, joins Adriana Giometti to share his thoughts on the real estate landscape in light of COVID-19.

A wide range of articles and government announcements have been published concerning the status of retail and commercial leases in the wake of the government mandated restrictions on trade and business operations that have come about as a response to the evolving COVID-19 crisis.  

Despite this, many tenants, especially commercial tenants who were not subject to the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW), were still uncertain as to what these announcements meant for them.

These uncertainties have now been removed in New South Wales, through the proclamation of the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2020 (NSW), which apply from 24 April 2020 until 24 October 2020.