Threatening letter from unsuccesful buyer

pimento

A few years ago I was buying a house. I'd paid for the searches and surveys (about £1000) and my vendor pulled out. I found out from the EA that I was the third prospective buyer she had pulled out of a sale with and I saw red.

I wrote her a letter telling her that I was furious that we had spent money when she obviously had no intention of selling her house (10 years later she still lives there) and how I thought she was being a bit dishonest. I never asked her for money though. I cc'd the EA.

A couple of weeks later I received a letter from her solicitor saying that I had libelled her and that if I didn't want further action on her part, I was to write a full letter of apology. I did write the letter but it stuck in my craw that she could get away with it.

pyueck

pimento wrote: »

A few years ago I was buying a house. I'd paid for the searches and surveys (about £1000) and my vendor pulled out. I found out from the EA that I was the third prospective buyer she had pulled out of a sale with and I saw red.

I wrote her a letter telling her that I was furious that we had spent money when she obviously had no intention of selling her house (10 years later she still lives there) and how I thought she was being a bit dishonest. I never asked her for money though. I cc'd the EA.

A couple of weeks later I received a letter from her solicitor saying that I had libelled her and that if I didn't want further action on her part, I was to write a full letter of apology. I did write the letter but it stuck in my craw that she could get away with it.

The solicitors letter is nonsense. How can you libel her if you sent the letter to her, to have comitted libel you must have given a false statement about her that gave a THIRD PARTY a negative impression of her which caused her a loss. What I would say about libel is that you do have to be careful in saying what you think of your landlord or seller or buyer to the agent, as this could be libel, although in reality libel creates fear in people more than cases.

With regard to the letter the OP got, I can understand them being unhappy with you but its the pitfalls of the British Housing market. I think the OP acted badly though.

I didn't see the thing about cc'ing in the estate agent, definately not a good idea. Still, I think you could defend the claim as a statment you reasonably believe to be true. I can't really see the person ever bringing the case, it would cost 10's of thousands to bring this case, and there is no guarantee the judge would award the cliamant costs or that they would win. As I said before libel is 99% of the time scare tactics.

DVardysShadow

I think you should have been upfront with them about the contract race. Or you should have let them have a reasonable time to exchange. Having said that, you might also have paid a survey fee and a notional amount of legal fees - say £1500 out of good will.

But the demand for £5000 is excessive and I would ignore them for their greed. I wouldn't even get my solicitor involved at this stage.

TheBrutalTruth

Just ignore them. If they really wanted to pursue this it would have come through a lawyer or they would have lodged a claim at the small claims court. The fact that they have not thus far shows they are simply angry and trying it on. Replying just adds fuel to the fire.

Having said that, you have acted appallingly and I am glad you have suffered because of this. No sympathy from me.

richardvc

I'm glad I wasn't your second potential buyer as I would be furious with regard to the poor treatment you dished out to them.

Legally I am sure that you don't have to pay them a penny, but morally it stinks.

You should offer to pay their survey fees as you did waste THEIR money especially as you got 10k more for your property.

Nevertheless, they should have written a polite letter stating their case and whilst I agree with their sentiments, I do not agree with the way they have gone about things.

I am sorry if this sounds harsh but you and your solicitor profited out of the flat sale whereas they have incurred a loss by you purposely not telling them the whole story.

BTW, all the info they have got is freely available on many websites and can be obtained with just a few clicks of a mouse.

If you are angry receiving their letter think how angry they must have been to have sent it.

pimento

pyueck wrote: »

The solicitors letter is nonsense. How can you libel her if you sent the letter to her, to have comitted libel you must have given a false statement about her that gave a THIRD PARTY a negative impression of her which caused her a loss. What I would say about libel is that you do have to be careful in saying what you think of your landlord or seller or buyer to the agent, as this could be libel, although in reality libel creates fear in people more than cases.

I cc'd the Estate Agent...

crusty_toenail

I would ask them to forward a receipt for the survey and state as a 'good will' gesture you will refund them the money spent.

Treat people as you would like to be treated youself, you were very selfish in the way you handled this but you can redeem yourself.

One thing I learnt early on in life is happiness comes from helping others, and being a selfish person will bring you unhappiness xxx

RX-78

I may be wrong but I'm sure your solicitor is leagally obliged to inform both purchaser that they are in a contract race if you accept more than one offer

http://www.practicalconveyancing.co.uk/content/view/10334/1129/

Thats not the same as YOU having to tell them - I'm not sure about the law surrounding disclosure on your part. Perhaps you should ask you solicitor why he didn't advise you to disclose the information?

kmmr

pimento wrote: »

I cc'd the Estate Agent...

But did you cause her loss?

maninthestreet

OP, check with your solicitor to see if they did inform both buyers they were in a contract race. If the letter sent by the second buyer has caused you alarm and distress, show it to the police to see if the think any offence may have been committed.