Help! FTB holding us all to ransom! Exchange today!

Milliemoodle_2

The situation is that we are buying a repossession. The exchange deadline was yesterday and the completion deadline is 18th Aug. There are 6 parties in the chain including us and the bank we are buying from. Everyone was ready to exchange yesterday and 5 of the 6 parties had agreed on 18th for completion. The man second up in the chain wanted 26th for completion and we all only found this out yesterday.

For reasons known only to himself, FTB has now apparently gone and signed another month's rental agreement on the house he is living in. This despite his current rental agreement not ending until 26th Aug. The man second up in the chain (who wanted 26th for completion) has now decided he can complete 19th Aug and the bank we are buying from have agreed that (after a hell of a lot of persuasion from their own solicitor).

So now FTB is saying he wants £100 from everyone in the chain to cover his rent for Sept, and if we don't pay it, he will refuse to complete until 19th Sept. Obviously the bank will not agree to extend the completion deadline until then so the whole chain will fall apart.

Then my estate agent rang me this morning to inform me that everyone else in the chain had agreed to the £100 allowance (which isn't true, as I have spoken to my buyer and she hasn't agreed it). I can't believe that at this late stage this man is trying to bully us and hold us to ransom.

My feelings are to stand firm and say no, but with constant bullying from the estate agents it's difficult. Unless it comes up through the solicitors I'm going to try to keep saying no, but I cannot believe the cheek of this man. We were held to ransom by the FTB last time we moved and ended up having to contribute £500 to her legal fees. Is this a common thing? Have other people experienced a last-minute demand from someone in their chain? What did you say and what was the outcome?

:mad:

ILW

Many chains fall apart at the last minute due to just one party. You need to decide whether you wish to take the gamble.

BitterAndTwisted

You're thinking about letting the whole chain collapse for the sake of a hundred quid?

JQ.

From the sounds of it, this is all the result of the second in chain person. They wanted a later date and the FTB accommodated that by extending their lease, admittedly past that date, presumably to ensure they were not homeless if their were any delays.

So surely, the options are that you make the person second in chain pay the increased cost or you stump up £100. Personally I'd stump up £100, in the scheme of things it's a drop in the ocean and will give you peace of mind.

hazyjo

Without exchanging, they'd have been mad to give notice on their rental. I don't blame them for extending by another month. Either the bloke who changed dates should offer to pay, or I'd just all fork out the £100.

Jx

SAMMYE_2

£100 for it to go smoothly. I'd think about paying.

pimento

Pay the £100 then send them a turd in the post. (Joking)

DannyboyMidlands

"For reasons known only to himself" - I suspect the reson was that a completion date hadn't been agreed by the entire chain and the FTB was facing being kicked out of his rental property in 2 weeks time. Not a very nice place to be and apparently difficult for the owner occupiers in the chain to empathise.

Then the chain turn around and say "actually, we're completing on the 19th, you needn't have paid that additional months rent after all".

Sounds like £100 each is fair enough.

dazeruk

JQ. wrote: »

From the sounds of it, this is all the result of the second in chain person. They wanted a later date and the FTB accommodated that by extending their lease, admittedly past that date, presumably to ensure they were not homeless if their were any delays.

So surely, the options are that you make the person second in chain pay the increased cost or you stump up £100. Personally I'd stump up £100, in the scheme of things it's a drop in the ocean and will give you peace of mind.

I agree. Sounds like the second in the chain person has caused this problem, not the FTB. If I was the FTB I'd want to make sure that I didn't end up homeless to. The 19th is getting very close, any unseen problems could push things beyond the 26th.

Mallotum_X

As annoying as it may be i would pay the £100. Its just not worth the whole chain falling down over it.

Milliemoodle_2

I really don't believe this man will pull out over this. I think he's out for what he can get and the estate agents have got themselves all worked up. My solicitor and my buyer's solicitor have heard nothing of this through the chain. I have said to the estate agents that we will see if the request comes up through the chain via solicitors and if so, we will make a final decision then. We have pointed out that this FTB originally wanted to complete on 29th July, and we were ready then and could have done so. As he was not ready, and we are now completing in August (hopefully) our removal fees quote has gone up by £173 but we're not trying to make him pay for that. Our buyer may have to cancel her holiday but she's not asking anyone to pay for that.

My solicitor can't understand why he didn't just renew for a week or two if he was that desperate. The bank we are buying from had made it clear that they weren't prepared to extend their deadline for completion.

If it comes down to it I suppose we will have to agree but for now I'm saying no and hoping he backs down first. It's unfortunate that he's renewed his tenancy but I really don't see why the rest of us should have to fork out for it.