Threatening letter from unsuccesful buyer

richardvc

hermum wrote: »

I
I do hope that I'm never in a burning building with you or someone of your ilk, as you'd no doubt be tripping others up to stand on their backs to reach the windows to escape.
Of course, your bad knees would stop you from kneeling down to help others.

Oh - quite a dig !

Soubrette

Milliewilly wrote: »

Agreed but there is a glaring lack of competency by the FTB solicitor here regardless of what the OP did. If the paperwork was not moving in their direction how could they possibly think the sale was proceeding to a point where shock horror someone else has bought the flat & that's angered them so much they have super sleuthed the OP down and are sending nasty demands for £5K?

I don't think we know how far along the FTB's were do we? We know they sent round the valuers, we have no idea if their mortgage was agreed in principle or anything really, so perhaps their sols told them they were imminently due to exchange or some time from exchange.

Although I personally don't agree with making nasty or overinflated demands - I agree with every comment Catblue has made, the OP deliberately kept the FTB in the dark and then when the OP felt like they were being used as a cashcow by everyone (including apparently the people they'd deliberately ripped off for a few hundred pounds), they feel injured and overwhelmed despite the £10K extra they had just made.

Imagine how you'd feel if you were the one down on the deal?

On a different tack - it does seem weird how the FTB managed to find their new address and how they bought - does the land registry update that fast?

Sou

RX-78

Milliewilly wrote: »

Agreed but there is a glaring lack of competency by the FTB solicitor here regardless of what the OP did. If the paperwork was not moving in their direction how could they possibly think the sale was proceeding to a point where shock horror someone else has bought the flat & that's angered them so much they have super sleuthed the OP down and are sending nasty demands for £5K?

As I posted earlier on it is NOT the buyer's solicitor's responsibility to know there is a contract race (i.e. the sellers has accepted more than one offer). It is the seller's solicitor's responsibility to disclose this information.

Of course I dont know if the OP informed her solicitor or if her solicitor has informed the OP the need to disclose this information.

And as already pointed out, there is a difference between negotiation - where both parties weigh up the pros and cons in full knowledge of the situation, and deciet - where one party deliverately witholds information to gain an advantage. OP's action clearly falls into the latter.

Am I surprised OP and her partner is jobless with no one else to help them out? Would I want to employ someone that acts in the way they have and tries to justify it with a sob story? Perhaps they should consider their plight is consequence of accumulation of their actions........ but I know they wont as they are "always right".

pinkshoes

I'm sorry to hear that you were both made redundant, but that still doesn't give you the right to treat people like dirt.

As I said before, treat others as you'd like them to treat you.

You handled the situation badly. If you'd given buyer 2 the opportunity to up their offer by say £5k, and let them know that there was someone else that wanted the property, then they probably would have still gone ahead, and you wouldn't be in this situation.

Instead, you did the worst possible thing. £1200 (survey and solicitor costs) is probably about right for their costs, so if I were you, I'd send the following letter:

Dear Buyer 2,

I'm very sorry for the way we treated you over the sale of our house, but as myself and my partner had both been made redundant and unable to find jobs, we had to sell the house as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we're both still unemployed, so living off our savings on a tight budget, but if you sent us copies of receipts showing your out of pocket expenses (i.e. solicitor cost, survey cost), then we will be happy to repay you over several instalments.

Kind Regards,

you

toffe

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear that you were both made redundant, but that still doesn't give you the right to treat people like dirt.

As I said before, treat others as you'd like them to treat you.

You handled the situation badly. If you'd given buyer 2 the opportunity to up their offer by say £5k, and let them know that there was someone else that wanted the property, then they probably would have still gone ahead, and you wouldn't be in this situation.

Instead, you did the worst possible thing. £1200 (survey and solicitor costs) is probably about right for their costs, so if I were you, I'd send the following letter:

Dear Buyer 2,

I'm very sorry for the way we treated you over the sale of our house, but as myself and my partner had both been made redundant and unable to find jobs, we had to sell the house as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we're both still unemployed, so living off our savings on a tight budget, but if you sent us copies of receipts showing your out of pocket expenses (i.e. solicitor cost, survey cost), then we will be happy to repay you over several instalments.

Kind Regards,

you

O.p. DO NOT i repeat DO NOT send this letter under any circumstances, you owe them nothing!

This is a "moneysaving" based website, i find it all the more bizare therefore that we are now advising forum users to write letters offering to pay thousands of pounds merely for "hurting someones feelings" if we start listening to advice like this we'll all be posting on the bankruptcy and living with it board before too long.

Soubrette

toffe wrote: »

O.p. DO NOT i repeat DO NOT send this letter under any circumstances, you owe them nothing!

This is a "moneysaving" based website, i find it all the more bizare therefore that we are now advising forum users to write letters offering to pay thousands of pounds merely for "hurting someones feelings" if we start listening to advice like this we'll all be posting on the bankruptcy and living with it board before too long.

Except the unsuccessful buyers were not told they were in a contract race

http://www.borthwicks.co.uk/a-z/contract_race.html

There is a further word of warning that should be given. Under the professional regulations that apply to solicitors, licensed conveyancers and estate agents, you will always be told when a second (or additional) contract has been issued and, in effect, a contract race starts.

In fact the Estate Agents were explicitly told not to tell the second set of buyers that another offer had been accepted until after exchange.

This may give an 'in' for the gazumped to claim something.

Sou

RX-78

There is a thread on house improvement forum here about ltd registered cowboy builders that took the money, declared bankrupt and dissolved the ltd, only to re-start under a different name.

Perfectly legal. Absolutely immoral.

Will the posters that supported the OP as "it is not illegal" support this too? Will you congratulate the builder on their business sense and applaud their moneysaving skills? Will you tell the builders they owe nothing, keep the cash and report the disgruntled customers to the police for harrassment? And if this was your home & money the builders have wrecked, will you be saying the same?

toffe

RX-78 wrote: »

There is a thread on house improvement forum here about ltd registered cowboy builders that took the money, declared bankrupt and dissolved the ltd, only to re-start under a different name.

Perfectly legal. Absolutely immoral.

Will the posters that supported the OP as "it is not illegal" support this too? Will you congratulate the builder on their business sense and applaud their moneysaving skills? Will you tell the builders they owe nothing, keep the cash and report the disgruntled customers to the police for harrassment? And if this was your home & money the builders have wrecked, will you be saying the same?

total rubbish, the two examples are worlds apart.

Unlike your cowboy builder example the o.p has not taken any money from from the person in question nor have they failed to supply any service or product for which they took payment, nor have they gone back on the deal they made as the deal was that due to to the low offer the house would remain on the market and open to other offers and therefore the possiblity that they may be beaten to the post was always there.

the money they lost was not the o.p's fault, it is all part and parcel of buying a house.

I know it's heart breaking for some people when a house sale falls through but it doesn't entitle you to be compensated.

RX-78

Toffee you fail to see the point - I was highlighting the fact just because it is legal does not justify the actions.

dander

toffe wrote: »

Boarderline illegal and if it continues very illegal. Already it's harrassment, there is no contract or legal statute under which this person could claim to legitimately be pursuing the o.p for compensation so sending letters demanding money is harrassment.

Frankly, this is balls.