Vendors pull out AFTER exchange of contract

silvercar

After all this saga the "wow, its mine" feeling when you put the key in the front door for the first time will be even greater. The amount of effort it will have taken you to get to that point should make you appreciate your new home even more.

satchmeister

You've come so far, now let the legals deal with the stupid idiots, they clearly do not have a brain cell between them. Clear breach of contract, made even worse by saying some more money would fix it. Make sure you get all of your costs covered - more difficult with the stress aspects but again there should be some recompense. All the best.

aliasojo

What I know about house selling, you could fit on the back of a postage stamp....so forgive me if this is a really naive question.

I don't understand why their solicitor is still working for them / still involved, if the situation is as clear cut as everyone here seems to think it is? Surely he would have advised his clients that they now have to go through with this and if they have gone against his advice, why would he still be acting for them in a no-win situation? Surely that reflects badly on him and wouldn't most solicitors step down and advise them to get a new one if they wanted to continue down this route?

t_obermory

aliasojo wrote: »

I don't understand why their solicitor is still working for them / still involved, if the situation is as clear cut as everyone here seems to think it is? Surely he would have advised his clients that they now have to go through with this and if they have gone against his advice, why would he still be acting for them in a no-win situation? Surely that reflects badly on him and wouldn't most solicitors step down and advise them to get a new one if they wanted to continue down this route?

Because the longer they procrastinate and faff around the more money they're paying the solicitor, and that'll increase even more when they get to court!

Good luck Welshwoofs!

waynehayes

I hope Welshwoofs a speedy conclusion to this case. It'll be a great story to talk about in the pub in a couple of years.
When the courts enforce the completion, how can they force the occupiers to move? Bailifs?

ginvzt

waynehayes wrote: »

I hopw Welshwoofs a speedy conclusion to this case. It'll be a great story to talk about in the pub in a couple of years.
When the courts enforce the completion, how can they force the occupiers to move? Bailifs?

Just wait for them to go to work/pub/shopping and changing locks! That would teach them.. They can arrange to collect their 'belongings';)

(Joking of course...)

mizzbiz

Hi Welshwolfs - following this thread with interest and can not believe how stupid people can be. What makes them think they can get away with this I do not know - but perhaps they do not realise the enormity of what they are letting themselves in for. That's no excuse in the eyes of the law though - you are obliged to follow the law even if you do not know it - ignorance is no defence.

I imagine if you go for specific performance, you will also get damages to compensate your other losses providing you seek to mitigate your losses as much as possible (lol).

It sounds like you got the house at a steal in the opinion of the vendors. Looking at it fromt their point of view, they lost at least £60k on the sale, probably more if you think what they may have had in mind at the height of the market. I guess they're hoping the court will award you damages only of much less than £60k, then they go on to sell the house for what they originally wanted once you disappear and leave them alone in their fantasy world.

There is little room for setting new precedents if the basics of contract law have been satisifed, which they clearly have in this case. If you lose this, it will shake the foundations of a whole area of law - this can't be possible.


I wish you all the best, and look forward to updates.

paddy's_mum

I cannot conceive of any court in this land allowing the vendors to overturn a valid and lawful contract. To do so would render all laws useless.

Once you start down that slippery slope, where will it stop? There would be a firm precedent to disallow or invalidate or deny every lawful system in the country.

There would be no such thing as the NHS, state pensions, courts, or schools because the Government could renege on its agreements with the people. No employee could guarantee his salary being in the bank at the end of the week since his employer could shrug his shoulders and deny obligation. No thug could be arrested or detained since he could claim he doesn't recognise the validity of the authorities and could thumb his nose at the judge who sentences him to a term in prison. In short, without a system of law, an orderly society falls apart.

If these buyers insist on this actually proceeding to court, I wonder if they are prepared to have their story splashed all over the newspapers, since I believe I am correct in thinking that such hearings must be in public. Perhaps they'll end up being the family quoted for decades ahead as the example to others, in the same way that the McMeekin v Long case came to be over the sellers failing to answer truthfully on the Property Information Form. You cannot open a legal textbook or sellers guide without bumping into that particular case and I doubt if Mr and Mrs Long ever thought that they'd spend half a lifetime being notorious for being economical with the truth.

I can sympathise with Welshwoofs feeling that when she does eventually get the house, it will need to be purged. I'm a great believer in houses developing a character that reflects the lives that have been lived within its walls and I think that many people can sense, when they first come into it, what sort of people have lived there, especially if they have been unhappy. Perhaps then the other side of the coin is that this house deserves to be occupied by people of honesty and courage!

Like everyone else, I'm on tenterhooks to know the outcome but take this opportunity of wishing Welshwoofs and her family well. They and their solicitor will be able to dine out on this tale of colossal stupidity and financial throat cutting for years. Good luck and don't give in!

stationaryace

nothing interesting to add, just subscribing to the [STRIKE]drama[/STRIKE] case.

WW- one tiny little silver lining is that by the time you move in you will have had the chance to decide exactly how you want to redecorate the house and get the prices all sorted too

ginvzt

I hope you have the cash in decent interest paying account - by the time it is all solved you might have earned quite a bit towards redecorating!

Although, I hope it is going to be sorted soon... I would go mad - you seem to have a very healthy mind!