Problems on completion - warning to others...

clutton_2

i would pursue this b*aastard also on principle - if you had had a poor sense of smell, you could have have a major explosion at the house.

barnaby-bear

Rick62 wrote:

Yes, if you take him to small claims it is fairly cheap and you don't need to use a lawyer and he is so obviously in the wrong.

Small claims...
Keep the property details if there's description of cooker/photo, can probably chase up the chain and get confirmation form their vendor it's their old cooker.
I thought keys had to be handed over before money transferred - I wouldn't be so trusting.

Corgi keep central records - they'll know if it was 'fitted' by a corgi guy - moreover they'll be able to confirm it wasn't.

talksalot81

I am presuming that his holding the keys means he isnt guilty of criminal theft (i.e. allowing you to go to the police)?

Id most certainly chase him over it... being underhand and devious I might also be inclined to find out if he is buying somewhere else and let them know how nice a chap he is... you never know, it might be a deal breaker on his following purchase (I certainly wouldnt be happy dealing with him if I knew this info!).

carrielouise80

LouiseK wrote:

We completed on Friday (our first flat). Although it all went ahead by mid-morning, the vendor wouldn't give us the keys until after 6pm. :mad: We spent the whole day waiting round, calling up solicitors, estate agents, etc. trying to get this sorted.

When we entered the property, we found out that the vendor had ripped out the gas range cooker and replaced it with a really old horrible one which did not fit. It soon dawned on us that the reason he wouldn't give us the keys any sooner was that he was busy replacing the cooker with the one in his old property (we had spent the week prior to exchange, negotiating that the cooker would stay. The vendor had previously tried to offer us the cooker in the house he was buying but we refused and so eventually he agreed that the original cooker would stay provided we completed quickly).

As well as taking the cooker, he took the extract fan and damaged the kitchen. But it gets worse......we then realised we could smell gas (a lot of gas) _pale_ so we immediately switched off the gas and phoned the emergency gas number. The gas man who came tested the appliance and told us that the gas cooker itself was dangerous and not fit for use, in addition if the vendor fitted the cooker himself and did not use a CORGI registered person, then the fitting was illegal and if a CORGI registered person had fitted it, they should be struck off. The gas man sealed off the gas, so that we could at least turn the gas back on and have heating.

We now have no cooking facilities (apart from a microwave) and have the hassle of trying to sort this mess out.

My warning to house buyers is that, just prior to completion, arrange for the keys to be left at the estate agents, or some other neutral place, so that you can gain access to your property as soon as completion takes place, and advise your solicitor not to release the money until this has happened. If we had done this, we feel we may have been able to stop him essentially stealing our property or at least get the solicitors involved that very day, instead of having to have a very anxious wait over the weekend.

right don't let him get away with this, the amount of times i have seen this happen is gut wrenching - write a letter to the agent informing them it is a breach of contract as the extractor fan/cooker and so forth would have been mentioned in the sale particulars (even better if they appeared in a photo) therefore legally they cannot be removed!!!!! Get onto your solictor and get them to go back to vendors solicitor you have a claim for compensation the items removed will have to be replaced by a replica of the original, honestly please don't let them get away with this.

mi-key

What would have happened if you had walked in smoking a fag ? or ( as it was evening and probably dark ) the light switch in the kitchen had sparked when you switched it on.

I would definitely sue the buyer - if you take them to small claims it wont cost much, and as well as the cost a new cooker ( or him replacing the one that should be there ) you can also claim costs for being without cooking facilities as the one he replaced it with is unusable.

Just out of principal I think you should take action. Check with your solcitor on the ins and outs, but if you owned the house from midday, and he took out the cooker after that, then it would be theft as he was removing something you owned.

rjm2k1

Wouldn't this be covered by your insurance company? They may pay up and go after him for theft.

silvercar

completed on two properties this year. on one, that the seller knew we weren't actually moving into, the keys weren't supplied til 4 pm. We were getting a bit etchy, particularly as we hadd made a private arrangement to buy curtains etc. When we got in we found that they had cleaned the house from top to bottom, looked like a brand new house, so well worth the wait.

On the house we had moved into we found that their dog had scratched things to pieces, they had broken internal glass door panels, some fault on the hot water hadn't been fixed, sky dish didn't pick up signal....
Our solicitor said there is no point taking action we would get nowhere. We also didn't have a forwarding address so couldn't chase ourselves. Four months later we find they've gone bankrupt, so no way to claim off them.

dunstonh

If you had died from the gas problems, he could have faced a manslaughter charge. So it is that serious.

If you can go through the small claims court, then I would. Its cheap and easily done. If it requires further legal action, then the cost, like others have said, would make it a difficult option for you.

talksalot81

Surely if the contract is breached it becomes null and void?

Cara79

I'm amazed Louise, can't believe this has happened to you. What has your solicitor said? What have they advised? I really think you should take this all the way!

Good luck
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