A solicitor acting for a mortgagee who discovers that secured property is on a manufactured home estate must advise the client not to advance funds if unable to ascertain the legal implications, and must not issue unqualified certificates as to title. A valuer who has doubts about whether structures have merged with the land must qualify valuations accordingly and carry out adequate investigations including inquiries of the local council. Where both a solicitor and valuer breach their duties in a lending transaction, their culpability and causal potency may be equal, warranting equal apportionment. A lender who relies on professional certifications from its solicitor and valuer is not contributorily negligent merely because it failed to comply with its own internal lending guidelines, where the security appeared adequate on the basis of those certifications. The question whether the Residential Parks Act 1998 (NSW) legislative scheme precluded manufactured homes from becoming fixtures prior to the enactment of s 85A remains unresolved.
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