Am I entitled to reclaim money on sale of my house?

SPARROW

My Husband and I sold our house in November 2010. Our vendor was stalling to complete for months and after he messed us around a lot, he then demanded we pay 50% towards a new roof ( even though the survey came back and said only 2 rows of tiles needed replacing). He said he would pull out of the sale unless we agreed to this, and as we had already set our hearts on our new property we eventually agreed to reduce the agreed price by almost £3000, but we did so with a condition on the completion of the sale. the condition was that we would receive receipts of the roofing works done within 3 months of the completion date. we haven't received the receipts and know that the work hasn't been done. do we have any right to reclaim the money?

PasturesNew

No idea. Seems a bit odd/tight though. I'd have just agreed a price drop and left it at that.

Any solicitor's bill's likely to come to more than you could gain by pursuing it.

chambta

SPARROW wrote: »

My Husband and I sold our house in November 2010. Our vendor was stalling to complete for months and after he messed us around a lot, he then demanded we pay 50% towards a new roof ( even though the survey came back and said only 2 rows of tiles needed replacing). He said he would pull out of the sale unless we agreed to this, and as we had already set our hearts on our new property we eventually agreed to reduce the agreed price by almost £3000, but we did so with a condition on the completion of the sale. the condition was that we would receive receipts of the roofing works done within 3 months of the completion date. we haven't received the receipts and know that the work hasn't been done. do we have any right to reclaim the money?

How was the 'condition' agreed upon? Unless you ensured it was legally binding before completion then I doubt you have a leg to stand on. Seems a peculiar arrangement to me. Why if you agreed to the reduction would you want to know work has been done on a house owned by someone else?

What if they decided against it? What if they want to sell the house straight away?

G_M

the condition was that we would receive receipts of the roofing works done within 3 months of the completion date.

Was this written into the contract, or agreed over the phone?
If the former, what was the wording? Ring your solicitor (assuming you used one - if not, go to the Small Claims Court).

If the latter: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

SPARROW

well, it was drawn up with the solicitors along with replies to our vendors other demands and was given to him and his solicitor in writing. as for changing their minds and deciding to re sell, this is what we were anticipating, therefore, what exactly would we be paying for? we had agreed a price and it suited both parties, only for him to change his mind at the last minute. surely no one would want to give £3000 away to a stranger for nothing? this is what it seems like we've done

chambta

SPARROW wrote: »

well, it was drawn up with the solicitors along with replies to our vendors other demands and was given to him and his solicitor in writing. as for changing their minds and deciding to re sell, this is what we were anticipating, therefore, what exactly would we be paying for? we had agreed a price and it suited both parties, only for him to change his mind at the last minute. surely no one would want to give £3000 away to a stranger for nothing? this is what it seems like we've done

Surely you 'given £3000 away' whatever. If you didn't want to 'lose' that money then why agree to sell at the reduced price?

I can't see why it matters to you now what they do.

SPARROW

i agree, we have already "lost" the money, and in all honesty, it's not about that, we were hit by this demand one week before completion, and as we were in a chain, this also had an effect on our purchase, and the purchase of the people we were buying from. it's the fact that he was so underhand in what he's done. you may add that it's how the property game works, but as a first time vendor, we took the advice of our estate agents and solicitors regarding this sale, and felt quite pressured by both to agree to our vendors demand which quite frankly left a bad taste in my mouth. sour grapes maybe? anyways, we really love our new home, i just wondered if there had been any point in having this condition in the sale or if the vendors taken us for a right pair of wallies!!!

G_M

SPARROW wrote: »

well, it was drawn up with the solicitors along with replies to our vendors other demands and was given to him and his solicitor in writing.

Sorry this is very vague. "Given to him..." What? A piece of paper was given to him?

It only becomes legally meaningful if he signs it and gives it to YOU.

And ideally, as part of the contract, not just as a side document.

And what exactly did it say?

poppysarah

SPARROW wrote: »

i agree, we have already "lost" the money, and in all honesty, it's not about that, we were hit by this demand one week before completion, !

Had you already exchanged by then?

Richard_Webster

I would never have advised a seller client of mine to agree such a daft condition. It is pretty obvious that in practice it would be unenforceable, unless you can retain some way of ensuring that the buyer does the work. I would have made this very clear to my seller client and if OP's solicitor were told about it I am surprised they didn't do so.

If having been advised about it they wanted to put such a clause in then they would do so on the basis that they hoped the buyers would honour it but if they didn't it would be expensive to seek to enforce it.

DVardysShadow

It looks worth a punt for £35 in the small claims court - if you have the evidence that there was a condition in the contract. But you need to look at the wording of the clause very carefully. It is possible that your conveyancer could have stitched you up just to get the deal over and done with. It might be a hard win to swallow if you the contract specifies that you get receipts and your damages are assessed as about 20p