Help!! Friends sellers decide to pull out

andygb

Last night, my wife came back from work, and told me that one of her friends house purchases had fallen through. The young lady in question was looking forward to completing in a few weeks time on her first home. She has paid for all the surveys and searches, and she has also paid a hefty deposit to her solicitors.
Yesterday, she was informed that the sellers have decided not to sell after all, and that all of this money she has spent has gone down the drain.
My question is this, because it is years (17 to be precise) since we bought our house, and although I have had dealings with property completions, I have never come across a situation where the sellers have pulled out after exchanging contracts. Is there a law against this, or possibly some indemnity?
Please help.

Andy

987654

Exchange can't have taken place, they must have pulled out before exchange (which can take place up to the day of completion).

That said, it's flippin annoying when people do this & potential purchasers are out of pocket. The purchaser has no way to claim costs bac.

cte1111

If they've pulled out after exchange, then there is the possibility of legal action to make them complete or compensation. This happened to someone else recently, see this thread for lots more info:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1806123&highlight=after+completion

DVardysShadow

anewpage0 wrote: »

change one change one

Can anyone report this moron, if you agree with me. Looking through the rest of his posts, they seem to be aimed towards getting the post count up so that he can post links.

pie81

Just to summarise the above: It depends whether exchange of contracts has taken place (which is usually a few days or weeks before completion). If exchange has happened the sellers can't change their minds. but if it hasn't then they can and the buyers have no options but just to lose the money they have spent.

goldbyron

I don't think exchange happened - its seems your friend has paid the deposit to their solicitor but it hasn't gone to the seller. So your friend can get their money back (deposit) but everything else is a loss. Unfortunately that is the English system....

pinkshoes

If they have definitely exchanged, then her friend will be able to take action to recoup some (most) of the costs.

If they haven't exchanged, then there's not much they can do.

Milliewilly

Why has a 'hefty' deposit been paid if exchange hasn't taken place?

martindow

Milliewilly wrote: »

Why has a 'hefty' deposit been paid if exchange hasn't taken place?

Does the OP mean that the cash had been given to their solicitor in preparation for exchange? If exchange didn't happen will be returned.

Milliewilly

I have always paid the deposit by same day transfer i.e day of exchange - just curious as to why the person paid persumably in advance of exchange? I know their money is safe but I would keep the money in my bank not the solicitors!

Doozergirl

Milliewilly wrote: »

I have always paid the deposit by same day transfer i.e day of exchange - just curious as to why the person paid persumably in advance of exchange? I know their money is safe but I would keep the money in my bank not the solicitors!

To be fair, you could even send a same day transfer to your solicitor on the day you plan to exchange - it doesn't mean that exchange will actually happen. Plus the money can arrive at any time - if it arrives at your solicitor close to the 3pm CHAPS deadline then the vendor's solicitor won't get it in time to exchange on that day, hence most people would prefer to get it there a day or so in advance.

It costs £28 to send a CHAPS transfer from my bank. The 10% deposit on most house purchases wouldn't accrue that much in interest over 3 days if you just sent it via BACS