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I am buying a repossesed flat, Urgent help please

chopra
chopra Posts: 87 Forumite
Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
in House buying, renting & selling
I am purchasing a repossesed flat in Manchester and now my sloicitor has written to me to say that;

(1) I will be liable to pay last 18 months service charges for the building,
(2) also last 3 years electric charges for communal areas because there was a deficit.

I have tried everywhere but nobody seems to know the answer, So please help or direct me to the right forums/websites etc

In short, do you have to pay previous Communal bills if buying repossesed property?
Thanks in advance
something missing
«13

Comments

  • MissMotivation
    MissMotivation Posts: 1,751 Forumite
    chopra wrote: »

    I have tried everywhere but nobody seems to know the answer

    Your Solicitor has writen to you to tell you.....you HAVE the answer! :confused:
    My home is usually the House Buying, Renting and Selling Forum where I can be found trying to (sometimes unsucessfully) prove that not all Estate Agents are crooks. With 20 years experience of Sales/Lettings and having bought and sold many of my own properties I've usually got something to say ;)
    Ignore......check!
  • stivy
    stivy Posts: 26 Forumite
    Can you reduce the price of the property by the amount it will take to clear the communal bills?
  • david29dpo
    david29dpo Posts: 3,986 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Your solicitor will tell if you are liable for the charges, it is common for a repro. Did you read the legal pack at the auction?
  • Chloepad1
    Chloepad1 Posts: 130 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'm sorry if I've misunderstood but let me get this right, your solicitor has said that as a condition of the purchase you have to pay 18 months of services charges and three years of electricity charges, on top of the purchase price. These are bills that were the responsibility of the previous owners/occupants surely?? I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable buying a property with these strings attached. Can you negotiate the sale price down by a few thousand??
  • chopra
    chopra Posts: 87 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Chloepad1 wrote: »
    I'm sorry if I've misunderstood but let me get this right, your solicitor has said that as a condition of the purchase you have to pay 18 months of services charges and three years of electricity charges, on top of the purchase price. These are bills that were the responsibility of the previous owners/occupants surely?? I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable buying a property with these strings attached. Can you negotiate the sale price down by a few thousand??

    That#s exactly right. As u can imagine, I too m far from comfortable. but how can it be because laws too are based on Logic,

    Also if the solicitor has pointed out that this is common with Reposesed properties but he can be wrong too. can;t he?
    something missing
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Did you buy it at auction? Or through an Estate Agent? .... or how?
  • Milliewilly
    Milliewilly Posts: 1,081 Forumite
    chopra wrote: »
    That#s exactly right. As u can imagine, I too m far from comfortable. but how can it be because laws too are based on Logic,

    Also if the solicitor has pointed out that this is common with Reposesed properties but he can be wrong too. can;t he?


    I don't see how a new owner can be retrospecively accountable for outstanding bills UNLESS it was in the legal pack if you bought at Auction?

    I doubt your solicitor would write to you and say you were liable if you weren't as you would have thought if you were not liable your solicitor would have knocked the request straight back to the vendors.
  • before_hollywood
    before_hollywood Posts: 20,686 Forumite
    surely electricity for communal areas is paid for in the service charges?
    things arent the way they were before, you wouldnt even recognise me anymore- not that you knew me back then ;)
    MercilessKiller wrote: »
    BH is my best mate too, its ok :)

    I trust BH even if he's from Manchester.. ;)

    all your base are belong to us :eek:
  • bristol_pilot
    bristol_pilot Posts: 2,235 Forumite
    I used to run a flats managment company and I confirm that the management company will not allow the transfer to a new owner unless the previous owner has paid all charges due. In the case of a repo, the previous owner may well have gone AWOL so to avoid the other owners in the block having to pick up the tab it is quite usual that the new owner would be expected to pay the back charges. You have the option to walk away from the purchase, of course.
  • Debt_Free_Chick
    Debt_Free_Chick Posts: 13,276 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    chopra wrote: »
    That#s exactly right. As u can imagine, I too m far from comfortable. but how can it be because laws too are based on Logic,

    Also if the solicitor has pointed out that this is common with Reposesed properties but he can be wrong too. can;t he?

    These are debts left by the previous owner, which the seller is passing on to you.

    Either the seller pays the charges and reflects them in the selling price; or the seller passes the charges on and you reflect them in the price you're prepared to pay.

    Until now, you've not known about the charges so presumably your offer didn't take account of them. But perhaps the seller didn't know about them either :confused:

    No hard and fast law here - down to you to negotiate with the seller.
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
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