When Nature Strikes: The Impact of Hurricane Melissa on Jamaican Real Estate Conveyance
📰 When Nature Strikes: The Impact of Hurricane Melissa on Jamaican Real Estate Conveyance -John Stamp (Steadfast Jamaica Realty) The passage of a powerful natural disaster, such as the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa , can throw the well-oiled machinery of real estate conveyance into immediate chaos. In Jamaica, a nation vulnerable to extreme weather events, the sudden and substantial destruction of an asset mid-transaction raises critical legal and practical questions for both buyers and sellers. The Core Conflict: Risk of Loss In a standard conveyance transaction, the question of who bears the "risk of loss" —the damage or destruction of the property—is paramount. Before the Contract: If the asset is destroyed before a binding Sale Agreement is signed, the seller simply has no property to sell, and the transaction is terminated. During the Conveyance Process: Once the Sale Agreement is signed, the risk generally shifts. Jamaican real estate contracts commonly use standard...
