Update - House buying completed

NASA_2

I'm due to complete on a house purchase tomorrow after a few months of (mostly) needless worry.

Mortgage sorted, deposit sorted, solicitor fee's paid.

Today, just after three, my solicitors office rang me and stated that they had just received a hand delivered fixtures and fittings list which is 'significantly' altered from what was previously signed up to and agreed.

Two parts that were mentioned were bedroom furniture has been removed and bathroom furniture has been removed. This had explicitly been stated on the original list as being left.

Where does this leave me? Part of the appeal of this house was that it was more or less ready to walk into. Almost like living in a rental property but with a mortgage.

What if they have totally stripped the place? At the very least they have acted in bad faith. At the worst they have potentially ruined what I had hoped to be home for quite a while.

Does a contract mean anything?

G_M

Is this England?

If you've Exchanged Contracts, terms cannot be altered. If you were plannimng to Exchange and Complete on the same day, then terms can be altered right up to the last minute.

In the latter case however, I would insist on reducing the price if they are reducing the F&Fs. Doubt you'll Complete tomorrow though.

Cannon_Fodder

You need to have a conversation with them.

Perhaps the same happened to them, up the chain.

Or the plans they had to rent altered, such that the rental can now accomodate stuff they thought they would never have room for.

Or any number of possible scenarios, which you will only come to understand by talking to them.

You may wish to re-negotiate, depending on the value/damage likely to be cause by removal - though as you say "complete", is it an exchange and complete in one go?

If already exchanged, consult your solicitor. He will know your options re "failure" to adhere to contract.

PasturesNew

What is bathroom furniture?

NASA_2

G_M wrote: »

Is this England?

If you've Exchanged Contracts, terms cannot be altered. If you were plannimng to Exchange and Complete on the same day, then terms can be altered right up to the last minute.

In the latter case however, I would insist on reducing the price if they are reducing the F&Fs. Doubt you'll Complete tomorrow though.

It's Northern Ireland - I understand its maybe not the exact same rules but I still think they are 99% the same. Contracts were exchanged over three weeks ago.

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

You need to have a conversation with them.

Perhaps the same happened to them, up the chain.

Or the plans they had to rent altered, such that the rental can now accomodate stuff they thought they would never have room for.

Or any number of possible scenarios, which you will only come to understand by talking to them.

You may wish to re-negotiate, depending on the value/damage likely to be cause by removal - though as you say "complete", is it an exchange and complete in one go?

If already exchanged, consult your solicitor. He will know your options re "failure" to adhere to contract.

Meeting the solicitor tomorrow morning at his request - not sure if that is a good, bad or neither sign. The vendor is already living in England and as far as I am aware is not waiting for my money to come through for anything in particular.

Incidentally, it was the vendors cousin that raided the place, but it must have been with her consent.

PasturesNew wrote: »

What is bathroom furniture?

I'm imagining that to be the likes of the electric shower, bathroom cabinet. I'm trying not to imagine the bathroom without a toilet etc.

NASA_2

Just about to go see the solicitor.

Hoping they havent totally gutted the place.

suisidevw

Update us on your return!

not_loaded

NASA wrote: »

…Incidentally, it was the vendors cousin that raided the place, but it must have been with her consent…

Put very simply, the F&F is a part of the contract. You have exchanged contracts, therefore this is a breach of contract at the last minute.

Maybe your seller has a very low opinion of what has been removed, but that is not the point.

Your seller is wide open now to severe financial penalties for not completing on the sale as contracted ages ago.

I hope this works out for you. Only you can decide how important the missing stuff is. A week or so of failed completion money will buy you a lot of replacement items though!

QTPie

Speak to your solicitor and see what, legally, your options are. Whether you have the grounds to ensure that the place is "put right" (ie things on the original F&F list replaced by the vendors) or similar. I think that you also need another viewing - straight away - to confirm what has happened to the house.

QT

NASA_2

That was a brief visit but I can at least say, with regard to F&F, that can live with what they have removed. The solicitors secretary made it sound worse than it was. In the bedroom they have actually only removed the bed but as I have my own bed at home anyway its just a matter of moving that to my new house. The bathroom stuff seems to be nothing at all apart from removing the cabinet - I can live with that again - its a £62,500 purchase so a £10 cabinet wont stop me completing.

This is the good part though, the sellers solicitors havent carried out the correct action that was required with land registry, I'm not totally sure what it is they needed to do but they misadvised my solicitors who as a result may have carried out the wrong actions. They asked him to ignore this and complete today as if nothing had gone wrong. So I am waiting for them to open their post, if what they need is in todays post, so that they can call my solicitor and let him know what is happening.

So, I still might not be able to complete today because of the sellers solicitors, its really lucky that I am not part of a chain or my nerves would be completely gone altogether. This just smacks of sheer incompetence.

NASA_2

QTPie wrote: »

Speak to your solicitor and see what, legally, your options are. Whether you have the grounds to ensure that the place is "put right" (ie things on the original F&F list replaced by the vendors) or similar. I think that you also need another viewing - straight away - to confirm what has happened to the house.

QT

Given what I have said above - do you think that would still be necessary?