sellers wont to back out after exchanging contract

nembot

We had exchanged contracts, with a completion date for monies to be deposited to my account.

There is a possibility that a buyer would lose a deposit if they pulled out, but suggesting that the seller can be sued is little more than speculation at this point.

milliebear00001

nembot wrote: »

We had exchanged contracts, with a completion date for monies to be deposited to my account.

There is a possibility that a buyer would lose a deposit if they pulled out, but suggesting that the seller can be sued is little more than speculation at this point.

Are you saying that your buyers didn't pursue you for enforcement and their costs? Madness!

As I understand it, there are costs to be met by either party for every day that completion does not occur.

DVardysShadow

slimme1 wrote: »

hi:mad:
i told her that we will take them to court and do wote ever it takes
i told her to read this forum.
she said that they will refuse to sell to us.
i just can not beleive this is happening we were went to be moving in on thursday
we have lost so much intrest on our savings cashing in early.
hope they read forum and change there minds:(:(:(

Sometimes, the less you say to people, the better.

I think your chances of moving on Thursday are now a bit slimmer because you told her to look at the forum. As others have said, it makes you look weak. You have also lost some advantage with the forum in that she will now be able to see your thread and what advice people are giving you. So you lose any advantage of surprise

Having said that, I would just say for your seller's benefit, that with your solicitor taking up your battle, her solicitor, if he is any good, will actually read her the riot act and tell her she has to move by Thursday and sell to you.

Also, she should be thinking about the consequences for her brother. The house is not available for him to buyand a court could possibly order that any sale to him is undone.

pimento

nembot wrote: »

The solicitor didn't get paid either, the contract as I said was no sale, no fee - this encompassed everyone involved, not just the EA.

I pulled out of the sale after repeated gazundering, payback was extra sweet when I took on the tenants the buyer had lined up and to be perfectly honest, I'd do exactly the same thing today, under similar circumstances.

What the buyer had to say was irrelevant

But surely, once you exchange contracts you have bought/sold. I don't really understand.

Who was your no sale no fee contract with?

nembot

I can only provide information relating to my own experience and I'm assuming the OP is in a different position to my buyer (BTL developer) so I do empathise, but they need to speak to their legal representative with regards to the implications - rather than reading suggestions that they can sue the seller, when this may or may not be the case.

DVardysShadow

nembot wrote: »

I can only provide information relating to my own experience and I'm assuming the OP is in a different position to my buyer (BTL developer) so I do empathise, but they need to speak to their legal representative with regards to the implications - rather than reading suggestions that they can sue the seller, when this may or may not be the case.

There is no question about it, they can sue the seller. They can sue anyone for anything.

The real questions are

• will the court allow their case to proceed
• what are the prospects of winning
• is suing the best way of dealing with the matter

On the first question, obviously it could proceed, on the second, the prospects of winning would be quite high, as losing a case like this would tend to undermine the concept of a contract. On the third, I would refer to Welshwoof's case, which IIRC cost the seller £30,000 or £40,000 without it going to court.

nembot

pimento wrote: »

But surely, once you exchange contracts you have bought/sold. I don't really understand.

Who was your no sale no fee contract with?

You haven't sold until you complete.

nembot wrote:

It depends entirely on the contract you have with your estate agent, for example I pulled out just a few days before completion on a no sale, no fee basis (Halifax).

http://www.halifax.co.uk/HelpCentre/pdf/1_336422-6.pdf

On the first question, obviously it could proceed, on the second, the prospects of winning would be quite high, as losing a case like this would tend to undermine the concept of a contract. On the third, I would refer to Welshwoof's case, which IIRC cost the seller £30,000 or £40,000 without it going to court.

Wish the OP the best of luck, surely there's a no win, no fee company out there ready to take this on

pimento

Yes, but you exchange contracts with your buyer, not your estate agent.

Sorry if I'm being thick, but I still don't understnd. If I were your buyer, the fact that your estate agent didn't charge you a fee would matter not a jot to me. I'd still have my 10% if you pulled out after exchange. Just because your buyer didn't sue for the deposit, doesn't mean s/he couldn't have.

milliebear00001

nembot wrote: »

You haven't sold until you complete.



http://www.halifax.co.uk/HelpCentre/pdf/1_336422-6.pdf

I think it's an extremely financially dangerous thing that you did. Had your buyer decided to pursue, the costs to you could have been huge. In my view, you were extremely lucky to get away with reneging on your contract in the way that you did, and others would be ill-advised to think that this would be a normal outcome of a seller pulling out of a sale after exchange.

Hailstorm

nembot wrote: »

You haven't sold until you complete.



http://www.halifax.co.uk/HelpCentre/pdf/1_336422-6.pdf



Wish the OP the best of luck, surely there's a no win, no fee company out there ready to take this on

Point 1 -True, but exchanging contracts is a legally binding agreement to either buy or sell the property on an agreed date.

The Halifax link just says you wouldn't pay estate agent or conveyancing fees in the event of the sale not proceeding. It doesn't say anything about indemnifying you if you are sued.