Selling let down

omalad

Hi all,

Just after some advice really, I recently had my house on the housing market and had a buyer all sorted. I cleared the house out (moved from Scot to N.Ireland), had it ready for the new person to move in and 3 days before the completion date, they pulled out as the buyer could not stump up the deposit!!
Needless to say I was annoyed and was at a total financial loss due to this.
A few things since have struck me as odd, these are:
1. I thought that in scotland this couldnt happen, but it turns out that my solicitor never got the other solicitor to sign the missives.

2. Apparently the buyer gave the instruction to sign the missives yet his solicitor did not do this as they thought he was sometimes a bit dazed and confused.

3. I had verbal assurances that everything was going to be ok from my solicitor, who had called the buyers solicitor a few times to check what was going on.

It seemed to me that i had no protection through the sale, yet the buyer was protected by his solicitor not signing the missive, if they thought he was dazed and 'sometimes confused' should I have been made aware of this as a possible problem?? It costs a lot of money moving home and I did it for nothing as now I am going to have to rent it out and move most of the stuff back in!!! Apparently all his mortgage etc was ok and in the bank, he just couldn't make up the deposit.

Can i get any sort of compensation for this from his or my solicitor or do i lose out as the missive/contract wasnt signed?

thanks all!!!

ChasingButterflies

Hi there,

What a terrible situation to be in...

I am not an expert by any means but imho your solictor was not acting in your best interests. In your shoes my first point of call would be the solicitor to see why he didn't ensure they had signed the missives.

Next port of call http://www.lawscot.co.uk/Public_Information/Complaints_against_Scottish_solicitors/

I hope you manage to find a resolution to this situation.

Welcome to the forums btw - I am sure there will be more knowledgeable advice along (probably in the morning)

omalad

Thanks for the link there.:D

I asked my solicitor on a number of occasions why they did not get it signed and was told that my solicitor could not force them to sign it. My solicitor informed me that they had called on a number of occasions to see what was happening and was assured that all was going ahead as planned (mortgage funds cleared etc) but that they could not get hold of their client to get it signed. When finally they got him, he told them to advance the contract yet they did not.
After I calmed down after the news, I asked my solicitor to write a letter to find out why they never advanced the contract when instructed and the reply was to the effect - we don't have to tell you anything more than we are pulling out!
Apparently the client could not stump up the deposit which was needed alongside his mortgage IRO £30k I believe.
Guess I feel let down by the system, left open to the fall by my solicitor and annoyed that I am stuck with an empty house about 300 miles away which I can't live in, and there's nothing I can do about it!!!

ChasingButterflies

Hi there,

I guess I am still of the opinion that your solicitor should not have let the "sale" progress so far without the missives being signed. I agree that he could not "force" them to sign the missives, however he could have advised you to continue/restart marketing your property - to minimise your risk. You were his client and he should have been acting with your best interests in mind. I am looking at it in a really simple manner though!

I can't really offer any firm advice but googled scottish law forum... it threw this site up http://www.scottishlaw.org.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=legaladvice Might be worth stating what has happened there and see what more knowledgeable people think?

If it weren't for the distances involved etc I would suggest a "free" 1/2 session with another solicitor or the CAB but I don't think that would really work...

Are you able to let out your empty property? or is it back on the market again?

I know the first time we sold a house the solicitor had to be chased up for every single thing - with young children it was a pain. The next time we found a very competant (think "pitbull" in a nice way!) solicitor - which was just as well considering how our buyers turned out :rolleyes: Yes he did cost more than the first but imo it was worth it -no need for the long story!

omalad

Hey,
It went back on the market to bide some time but going to have to rent it with the current financial climate, it's been empty now for 4 months....not good!!!
Cheers for all the advice!