When we bought our unit there were levies and local rates due. We paid the purchase price and part of the job of our conveyancing solicitor was to deduct the levies and rates from the amount passed on to the previous owner. Then the levies and rates should have been paid from that residue.
The solicitor had done everything correctly and our file had two cheques sitting on it ready to pay rates and levies from the solicitor’s trust account. Just after the sale when through but before the cheques were mailed off the solicitor’s accounts were frozen and the solicitor hauled off for some sort of wrong-doing unrelated to our unit purchase. The consequence was that the rates and levies didn’t get paid until the law society or bar association or whoever had sorted out whatever the issue was with this solicitor.
Meanwhile, we had no money and were fortunate that the EC and the local government were generous in waiting a while for the matter to be sorted out. Eventually the guy’s accounts were unfrozen and the payments were made. it was clear though that the debt was associated with the unit (lot) and therefore us, not the previous owner. If things had dragged out longer we would have had to find the money to pay the debt and then try to get compensation from the solicitor.