Sellers asking for additional monies for fittings after sale of property

Shelly_Walton

We purchased our property over a month ago. Although we discussed additional fittings in the property, nothing was ever agreed, indeed we didnt actually see a fixtures & fittings listing. On the day we arrived at the house, once all monies had been paid over and we had keys, there were a number of items that had been left. eg. cooker, table, curtains & light fittings.
We have today had a letter from our solicitors, saying that a mistake has been made and the Seller is demanding a fee of £1000 for all items left. Can they do this? Where do we stand legally?

pimento

They can't no.

firstaspect

Nope they can't do it. If there was no fixtures & fittings then you'd have to presume that they are leaving you with nothing so anything they have left can be classed as rubbish (which technically you could then charge them for not clearing the house to deal with the removal of all the items).

bryanb

Completion means exactly that - Completion

Soot2006

Tell them no. But tell them if they would like to have the items left in your house, they have can have them at a very reasonable rate of £500.

paul1964_2

Shelly_Walton wrote: »

We have today had a letter from our solicitors, saying that a mistake has been made and the Seller is demanding a fee of £1000 for all items left. Can they do this? Where do we stand legally?

Ask your solicitor to explain what "mistake" has been made, who made it and what the legal situation is.

Could the mistake have been made by your solicitor, who is now trying to smooth it over?

fimonkey

ha ha, some people really try it on don't they?

Write a letter in reply charging them an amount for storage of their goods, I estimage about 1K would be right.

dobsoncrew

There should be a fixtures and fittings sheet, if not your solicitor has not done there job right. From my one and only experience, so far. The solicitors that I had expect you to know everything, when we were first timer buyers. I would see that if they have moved out and left them then they are yours (common sense), but legally if there is not a fixtures and fittings sheet then they may not be yours. If you can ask another solicitor because you one may not be of any help. But in my experience we had a cooker, washing machine and dishwasher, when I got to speak to the seller I mentioned them and she said that they were gifts, as they were not on the fixtures and fittings sheet. This won't work in your situation, sorry. I would call their bluff and say that they can come and get them. Also tell your solicitor what fimonkey said
Write a letter in reply charging them an amount for storage of their goods, I estimage about 1K would be right.

Ulfar

You could always go back to them and charge storage fees, or the cost of disposing the items because in this case legally they are the ones that are fault if they weren't included in the fixtures and fittings list.

Soot2006

Unless your solicitor agreed to something and 'forgot' to tell you - seems unlikely ... and they would have to pick up the tab if this is what happened!

businessreader

Shelly,

I would strongly urge that you do not follow the 'advice' of some here and start thinking that you can charge the ridiculous amounts suggested as storage charges. If you even begin to believe such 'advice' you could end up the real loser in all this. You have to be reasonable, a word that is common in legal disputes. You will intuitively know what is or is not reasonable. Can you imagine any commercial undertaking charging £1000.00 to store a few second-hand items? Paul1964 offers the most sensible comment on the matter, in my opinion, but I would suggest that before you get into any discussion with your own solicitor you first of all clear up whether or not he/she belives that he/she [this equality thing can be annoying :-) ] thinks that a fee is due for sorting it out. I'd guess you wouldn't want to pay your solicitor twice for the same thing i.e properly arranging the purchase.

If you do not see yourself ever wanting the items that were left then consider putting them in a hut or garage for a while to keep them safe and start the clock running on a sensible weekly storage rate. You tell the other people to arrange an uplift asap and if nothing happens before the value of storage equals the value of the items then a quick check with your solicitor will tell you if you can sell, dump or keep the stuff.