Help please! Being held to ransom!

Robert_Sterling_3

You sold the flat. Finito ... Go Go Go.

A lady said you could stay.
It is not the lady's flat.
You have nothing in writing.
Go Go Go.

paddy's_mum

The husband can "insist" all he likes but in the absence of any contract or proveable evidence, I suspect that they'll have one heck of a job to shift you. Almost certainly it would require a court order, many weeks down the line and I doubt a judge would inflict the husband's angry and inflated rent demands upon you.

In your shoes, I'd sit tight and see how much they are willing to pay you to tempt you to move out. If it were £1000, I'd bet money that would be cheaper than the legal fees to seek advice from a solicitor.

It may be cheeky but equally, you have done nothing wrong so why should you be subjected to pressure, temper tantrums and worry about having a roof over your head?

goingbonkers

Thanks to everyone for the very quick replies!

I have decided indeed to rent a van at the weekend and get the hell outta there! Moving to mum's ASAP. I've spoken to the original purchaser (or who I believed to be the purchaser) and she is basically washing her hands of the whole thing as am I, and leaving the solicitors to slug it out.

Furthermore, she has decided that she and her son will not even be moving into the flat and are going to another property they own instead. So it will sit empty for as long as her ex likes, earning nothing. He'll also not be privy to my new address, so good luck to him trying to get any money out of me.

But I'll be OK, cos I'll be at mum's and moving onwards and upwards. Not worth the hassle as so many of you quite rightly put it!

Thanks again for all the advice.

Entertainer

You should stay- you are in a position of great power here, cancel the van! Incredibly, your purchasers have allowed their lovely new property to be occupied by the person who sold it to them with no tenancy agreement.

If it's a good rent for you then explain to the man that you are showing good faith (not that they deserve it) and will pay the rent.

QTPie

goingbonkers wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the very quick replies!

I have decided indeed to rent a van at the weekend and get the hell outta there! Moving to mum's ASAP. I've spoken to the original purchaser (or who I believed to be the purchaser) and she is basically washing her hands of the whole thing as am I, and leaving the solicitors to slug it out.

Furthermore, she has decided that she and her son will not even be moving into the flat and are going to another property they own instead. So it will sit empty for as long as her ex likes, earning nothing. He'll also not be privy to my new address, so good luck to him trying to get any money out of me.

But I'll be OK, cos I'll be at mum's and moving onwards and upwards. Not worth the hassle as so many of you quite rightly put it!

Thanks again for all the advice.

That sounds incredibly wise and sensible to me: certainly what I would do.

It just sounds like one big mess and hassle that you could do without...

QT

Debt_Free_Chick

I think you might not have appreciated the fine detail of the agreement you had with the lady.

Irrespective of what was agreed and who said what, you were entitled to stay there anyway until completion. Once you got to completion, you are obliged to vacate - as the contract you signed & exchanged said that the property would be vacant come completion.

As the agreement you had with the lady was at the time when she had no mortgage offer, I would guess that you had not exchanged at this point - or at least, not completed. Had you exchanged, completion would have been deferred until she or her mortgage lender stumped up the cash.

Her ex is probably more in the right than you as the contract requires vacant possession on completion.

If you've completed then yes - move out ASAP!

Thrugelmir

goingbonkers wrote: »

Hoping someone can give me some advice on here, as my solicitor is on hols and seems pretty useless anyway...

I have just sold my flat to a lady buyer who was purchasing it through a trust fund on behalf of her son. I had got to contract stage on a house to move to, but suddenly their mortgage company stopped the sale as they were in negative equity. Given the fact that I had no house to go to (but offered to move out and go to my mum's anyway) the lady told me she didn't need to move in straight away and as soon as the sale was completed we could agree terms for me staying where I am and paying her rent.

The sale completed on Tuesday of this week. Her ex-husband (also a member of the trust for her son) has found out that I have not vacated the property and has completely gone off on one. He is insisting on me signing a tenancy agreement at £450 per month rent with a month deposit upfront, though I never agreed to this amount. It is approx £100 over the normal rent for the flat and location.

As far as I knew, I made an agreement in good faith with the person I was selling to. The complication now is that the trust has the say over the flat now its been purchased, and due to the fact that he doesn't get on with his ex-wife, I'm being dragged into it all.

I am tempted to just lift my stuff over the weekend and go, without paying him a penny or signing any agreement whatsoever. Does anyone know if there could be any legal comeback from this? Could he sue me for rent for the few days I've been in the flat after the sale completed on Tuesday?

Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

You should vacate the property as soon as possible. Part of the sale contract is to give the purchaser vacant possession. Therefore the purchaser has the right to seek remedy (ie to take you to court).

A Seller required to give vacant possession must (on completion) leave the property (including the garden and outhouses) empty of people, possessions and rubbish

In the absence of a written arrangement you would have no defence.

tbs624

sarah_elton wrote: »

I agree - you're in a fantastic negotiating position. ...

Entertainer wrote: »

You should stay- you are in a position of great power here, cancel the van!...

My view differs - as DFC says, I think if you look at what the OP says:

goingbonkers wrote: »

...the lady told me she didn't need to move in straight away and as soon as the sale was completed we could agree terms for me staying where I am and paying her rent.

The sale completed on Tuesday of this week. Her ex-husband (also a member of the trust for her son) has found out that I have not vacated the property and has completely gone off on one.

(my emboldening)
If the OP wanted to stay in the property she should have the legal side of that dealt with openly prior to the completion of the sale. The fact that the ex-husband didn't know until after the sale suggests that it was never part of the plan. It's highly unlikely that only the lady was able to sign for the purchase, if the property was being bought via a trust fund for which her ex-h was also a trustee. It sounds more as though you were strung a line to persuade you to go through with the sale.

Remaining in possession after a sale, with no legal documentation to say that you may do so, does not place you in a strong negotiating position and the OP has now done the right thing in getting out asap.

olbas_oil

The contract would have been that you received a sum of money, and they received a vacant property. The contract should have clauses detailing what happens in the case of default.
That is what is enforceable. Look it up quick. It is likely to be a punitive rate of interest- which may be more than this supposed rent.