Exchange on monday - buyers wanting to keep back £10k?!

longwalks1

Gf and her ex have sold their homeand completion date is Monday coming (2nd august). Her Solicitor phoned today to say the buyers want to hold back £10k (sold house for £190k) in case any more loans or debts 'pop up' that are secured on the house, can this be done? Girlfriend and her ex did have a loan secured on it which they declared, and obv the buyer has a right to be cautious, but can it be sprung on her so late on ?And is this a commonly done thing?

Thanks in advance

Arthritic_Toe

britishboy wrote: »

Gf and her ex have sold their homeand completion date is Monday coming (2nd august). Her Solicitor phoned today to say the buyers want to hold back £10k (sold house for £190k) in case any more loans or debts 'pop up' that are secured on the house, can this be done? Girlfriend and her ex did have a loan secured on it which they declared, and obv the buyer has a right to be cautious, but can it be sprung on her so late on ?And is this a commonly done thing?

Thanks in advance

It depends whether they have exchanged contracts. If so, then they must pay up the full amount on completion. If not, then they are free to fiddle around with the conditions before exchange.

bryanb

Debts secured on the house will be on the register at Land registry and must be settled at completion. There can be no such "pop ups" They should tell their solicitor to get a grip.

longwalks1

Thanks people

BryanB thats what i said, even suggested doing a Experian or Exifax report to show no outstanding debt, just sounded a bit wierd requesting to hold back £10k? They obviously want the sale, so dont want to rock the boat, but what happens to the £10k if its held back? and who/when does it get paid out?

Thanks again everyone

Owain_Moneysaver

It's up to the buyer's solicitor to do the searches and ensure there are no encumbrances attached to the property.

"I refer you to the reply given in Arkell and Pressdram" might be an appropriate response.

PasturesNew

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Arkell and Pressdram"

Absolutely spot on.

mynameisdave

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

It's up to the buyer's solicitor to do the searches and ensure there are no encumbrances attached to the property.

"I refer you to the reply given in Arkell and Pressdram" might be an appropriate response.

Hehe. Had a chuckle when I read that on the Private Eye wiki page

Bananamana

britishboy wrote: »

Gf and her ex have sold their homeand completion date is Monday coming (2nd august). Her Solicitor phoned today to say the buyers want to hold back £10k (sold house for £190k) in case any more loans or debts 'pop up' that are secured on the house, can this be done? Girlfriend and her ex did have a loan secured on it which they declared, and obv the buyer has a right to be cautious, but can it be sprung on her so late on ?And is this a commonly done thing?

Thanks in advance

have they exchanged? If so tell them where to go. Their own priority search should offer sufficient protection.

And see above

Evilm

The sellers solicitor undertakes to clear any secured debt on the house when they get the purchase money. The seller will still be responsible for them if they don't.

Holding back funds as a purchaser to ensure this is stupid. Never heard of this being done before and I've worked with conveyancers in the past.

It sounds like they don't have their finances arranged and need an extra few days to get the last 10k in which case their solicitor should never have let them exchange contracts.

Equifax and Experian don't hold details on secured debts ... the Land Registry do. If its not registered with the Land Registry it isn't secured on the property and is none of their business.