Can a bank repossess a property after exchange of contracts?

madmish00

After some ongoing saga we are ready to exchange contracts on a property. However, the property is subject to a repossession order and is due to be repossessed on the 20th June. Our solicitor is refusing to exchange contracts until something is provided in writing that says the bank will not repossess the property once we exchange contracts. We have been waiting for this for at least a week and nobody seems to be chasing it.

I would have thought that once contracts were exchanged that this would stop the repossession or at least put it on hold until the completion date to confirm funds have been received.

Who can I speak to to hurry this along.

hazyjo

Could you exchange and complete on the same day? Would that help? I suppose there'd be those worrying few hours inbetween though.

Have you asked your solicitor to chase them?

Jx

Richard_Webster

Nothing to stop the bank repossessing form a legal point of view. Most wouldn't, but solicitor is right to want to get the assurance in writing.

madmish00

I have been chasing our solicitor but I just keep getting fobbed off. Apparently the fact that I am paying her to deal with this purchase does not include actually taking a bit of initiative and actively chasing things. I just keep getting told I'll speak to the vendor's solicitor and get back to you. But this has been going on for days now.

Despite numerous requests I still haven't had a completion statement from them to say how much I owe to complete so have not been able to transfer these funds to my solicitor and she has not requested the mortgage funds so will struggle to exchange and complete on the same day before 20th June.

I keep being told that the bank are 'faxing something over' but it has been goig through the fax for 3 days now!

madmish00

Nothing to stop the bank repossessing form a legal point of view. Most wouldn't, but solicitor is right to want to get the assurance in writing.

Thanks. Don't get me wrong I'm glad our solicitor is looking out for our interests but I'm just frustrated that she doesn't actaully seem to be chasing it. Unless I get on the phone to her I hear nothing.

The vendors solicitor is saying that the bank have verbally confirmed (on Monday) that they would not repossess and were sending something in writing to confirm but even carrier pigeon would have delivered it the 50 miles by now!

GDB2222

Can I be absolutely ghastly for a moment. Have you considered the option of not going ahead with this purchase and waiting for the house to be repossessed?

googler

GDB2222 wrote: »

Can I be absolutely ghastly for a moment. Have you considered the option of not going ahead with this purchase and waiting for the house to be repossessed?

...and then approaching the lender with a lower offer than the current agreed price...?

madmish00

I did consider that. But I really don't want to risk losing this house as it is my 'forever' house

Given that the bank wouldn't even speak to me (I understand that they can't give me any details of the account etc) I would be worried that the house would just disappear to auction and be sold before I knew anything about it.

We are already getting it at a good price so it's not really a risk I would want to take.

GDB2222

It wouldn't just disappear off to auction. The bank has to be seen to be getting the best price available, so they would advertise it. Ofc, they might do a better job of selling it than the current owners as they wouldn't be under the same pressure. So, yes, you could end up losing it or paying more, but you stand a reasonable chance of paying quite a bit less.

tyllwyd

GDB2222 wrote: »

It wouldn't just disappear off to auction. The bank has to be seen to be getting the best price available, so they would advertise it. Ofc, they might do a better job of selling it than the current owners as they wouldn't be under the same pressure. So, yes, you could end up losing it or paying more, but you stand a reasonable chance of paying quite a bit less.

Yes, but I assume the house has been off the market while the OP has been going through the process of buying it - so they would have taken away the chance of the original vendors marketing it in the meantime to someone who was able to proceed before it was repossessed. The OP would end up with legal bills for work that the solicitors have already done, the vendors would end up with bills from their solicitors - all for the possibility of trying to screw the vendors down for a few thousand pounds more.

Fair enough if everyone does their best and they still can't stop the bank repossessing, but to pull out at this stage just to try to get a better price seems like a very underhand (and risky) strategy to me.

madmish00

It wouldn't just disappear off to auction. The bank has to be seen to be getting the best price available, so they would advertise it.

The other problem though is that the mortgage offer would then have to be amended to reflect the new price causing further delay and increasing the risk of an offer being accepted from someone else.

The OP would end up with legal bills for work that the solicitors have already done, the vendors would end up with bills from their solicitors - all for the possibility of trying to screw the vendors down for a few thousand pounds more.

Agreed - given that our own sale fell through at the last minute and we had to apply for a new mortgage on the basis of renting our current property all in order to try and buy this we would be significantly out of pocket if we were to lose out at the last minute.

I can see why some people would do this as potentially it could save some well earned money and if this was just 'any' house I probably would consider it but given the stress I have already gone through to get 'this' house I would rather just pay that little bit more and know that it is mine and I don't have to go through this process again!