Lessors lying to my estate agent to stop sale going through

stertefisherman

Dear all.

I am having a very stressful weekend. We own a leasehold ground floor flat with a private garden which is completely fenced off, in a converted house with the flat above owned by the Lessor which is rented out to their daughter. We are trying to sale the flat. On Friday my estate agent rang me up as the Lessor had gone into the Estate Agent demanding that they make the potential buyers aware that they cant keep pets in the flat. This was because during the potential buyers viewing 2 weeks ago they bumped into the Lessor and said they have dogs.

The lease says "Not to keep any animal or bird in the Flat or Demised Premises which may or does according to the reasonable opinion of the Lessor or the Surveyor cause offence to the other tenants or occupiers". Which when we brought the property we asked the solictor and was told that you can have pets aslong as it is not a nuisance to the other tenants, we have also kept pets here with no problem.

I am upset as there is no "relationship" between the Lessor and the estate agent and would of thought that the Lessor should of dealt with this via the Solicitors. The Estate Agent has to now pass this on which may scupper the sale.

When I tried to speak to the Lessor all I got was her shouting at me down the phone, and saying that the Estate Agent said that I misled them, also she said that she didnt know I was selling although we have spoken to them on a couple of times and have a letter from them about it!!!!! She even told the estate agent that she didnt know we are selling and he spoke to her 2 weeks ago during the viewing! I spoke to the estate agent and he said that he didnt say that I misled him...

Since we have gone on the market they have tried to steal some of our garden (which was resolved after the Lessor once again shouting at me down the phone), scratched the glass on my conservatory door, and park to block the side passage to our front door, I have not complained as dont want to have a dispute recorded but feel exploited and powerless to resolve these issues.

Should I be worrying and what should I do if the sale falls through due to this deliberate action by the Lessor? Do I claim compensation for the costs that I have incurred, how do I make the Lessor understand what their responsibilites are.
Regards

clutton_2

it sounds like they are very fearful of who they may be getting as new neighbours... perhaps you might ask them in for a cup of tea and talk to them about the whole thing...

[Deleted User]

start being the neighbour from hell so that they want to get rid of you

Ulfar

I am afraid to say but you now have a dispute with your neighbours. You will need to declare it.

You can't deny it exists as the other side have made it quite clear to the estate agent. They may be nutters and completely in the wrong but that doesn't stop them objecting to anything and everything.

In future all communication should be via solicitors, if they continue to ring up and harass you can get their phone number barred, if they take physical actions call the police.

The problem is it now looks like you will lose your sale and selling again will prove difficult.

princeofpounds

If it is new neighbours they are worried about, point out to them that if you cannot sell and move then the place will be rented out anyway.

They probably see their chance here to make it difficult for you to sell, hoping you will sell to them at a knockdown price. Has there been any suggestion of this?

You might want to try the landlordzone long leasehold forum, the neighbours from hell forum for advice.

Also, get in touch with LEASE, the free government-funded lease advice service. They may be able to tell you some useful things about how the relationship is supposed to operate.

It sounds as if this is verging on ASBO territory. Keep a log of all incidents, this will be needed for evidence should it ever get to a legal stage.

Are you absolutely sure they own the freehold for the building? Have you checked the land registry? It's a long shot, but sometimes people claim such things when it's not really the case.

Ulfar

Forgot to mention, if it is a property split into two, buy your freehold and then the other half can whinge about pets as much as they like but it will be hard luck.

Even if pets weren't allowed you could vote against any action being taken leading to stalemate.

stertefisherman

We cant buy the freehold as both parties would need to agree and I dont think they would.

We cant underlet so renting is a no go (although they sublet upstairs?)

Hopefully the buyers wont be put off and we will sale.

My concern is if this latest attempt to stop the sale doesnt work, what will they do next?

Ulfar

I am not sure how this works in your case, as the other leaseholder already owns the freehold.

You would need to check with your solicitor or the leasehold tribunal service.

Does your lease explicitly prohibit renting the property out, if not then they cannot stop it. It would also be another referral to the leasehold tribunal for a variation, which would be quite hard for the freeholder to deny as they are already renting the other half as the leaseholder thereby breaching the lease.

Fire_Fox

stertefisherman wrote: »

I am upset as there is no "relationship" between the Lessor and the estate agent and would of thought that the Lessor should of dealt with this via the Solicitors. The Estate Agent has to now pass this on which may scupper the sale.

When I tried to speak to the Lessor all I got was her shouting at me down the phone, and saying that the Estate Agent said that I misled them, also she said that she didnt know I was selling although we have spoken to them on a couple of times and have a letter from them about it!!!!! She even told the estate agent that she didnt know we are selling and he spoke to her 2 weeks ago during the viewing! I spoke to the estate agent and he said that he didnt say that I misled him...

Since we have gone on the market they have tried to steal some of our garden (which was resolved after the Lessor once again shouting at me down the phone), scratched the glass on my conservatory door, and park to block the side passage to our front door, I have not complained as dont want to have a dispute recorded but feel exploited and powerless to resolve these issues.

Should I be worrying and what should I do if the sale falls through due to this deliberate action by the Lessor? Do I claim compensation for the costs that I have incurred, how do I make the Lessor understand what their responsibilites are.
Regards

Why are you dealing with the lessor directly when they have shouted at you on more than one occasion?? Agree with Ulfar, this is clearly now a neighbour dispute which you MUST declare - neighbour disputes are not only what is recorded. Deal with this only via the solicitor from now on, don't ask us what your next move is ask your legal team. You cannot make an unreasonable lessor understand anything so don't try.

stertefisherman

We have written to the lessor saying that all correspondance is now to be dealt with via our solicitors.

I just cant understand why it has got to this stage as we have had no problems until we tried to sale.

DVardysShadow

stertefisherman wrote: »

We have written to the lessor saying that all correspondance is now to be dealt with via our solicitors.

I just cant understand why it has got to this stage as we have had no problems until we tried to sale.

Why this has happened is because you are moving and they are afraid of who might follow you, as clutton says. Kittie is right in a logical sense, that you need to start being the neighbour from hell, so that they will be glad to see the back of you, although ethically, you probably would not.

If you have any lines of communication open, you need to get these spotteddick heads to realise that you are going, and if they cause problems for your sale, you will have to declare what they are doing, with the consequence that the value will go down and if you need to, you will go to a 'buy your property for cash' company. The consequences for your selfish and myopic lessor will be that ultimately, they could end up with the most undesirable neighbours.

Effectively, your lessor has put a death grip on you. I don't like the idea, but I think the only thing you can do is turn it to a double death grip and hope that they can see sense with your assistance.