unpaid bills by previous owner

silvercar

Moved house in July. The previous owners needed to complete some work prior to exchange to get the final building certificate sign off. This included physical items eg a fire door.

It has now come to light that they have not paid the final invoice for these items. They have also since become bankrupt.

Is their any claim against me? Could the company reclaim the fire door etc?

I would have thought not, as their contract was with the previous owners not me. would like some reassurance!

welshcakes

Going on a basic law of torte, their claim would be against previous owner as their contract was made with them. If you buy a car off someone and they haven't paid their mechanics bill for the new wheels and trims, the garage can't come to you and demand to strip your vehicle or that you pay someone else's bill. That's the way I see it.

Jeewhizz

their contract is with whoever they invoiced, and with whom they agreed the price for the work/job. If that person has since gone bacnkrupt, then they need to deal with the people dealing with the bankruptcy for that person.

Jee

prudryden

silvercar wrote:

Moved house in July. The previous owners needed to complete some work prior to exchange to get the final building certificate sign off. This included physical items eg a fire door.

It has now come to light that they have not paid the final invoice for these items. They have also since become bankrupt.

Is their any claim against me? Could the company reclaim the fire door etc?

I would have thought not, as their contract was with the previous owners not me. would like some reassurance!

Hi Silver,
Just a thought. While I certainly agree with the above responders re: contract law, what if the company says that the fire door is still their property because not paid for and was obtained by deception. Would not stolen (using that word loosely) property have to be returned to its rightful owner. Positive would never happen, but just thinking about it, so please don't let it upset your day. Just found it interesting.

Debt_Free_Chick

prudryden wrote:

Hi Silver,
Just a thought. While I certainly agree with the above responders re: contract law, what if the company says that the fire door is still their property because not paid for and was obtained by deception. Would not stolen (using that word loosely) property have to be returned to its rightful owner. Positive would never happen, but just thinking about it, so please don't let it upset your day. Just found it interesting.

This is a good point. Most T&Cs state that anything supplied remains the property of the supplier until it's paid for.

I would hope that the builder would "see sense" and understand that you bought in good faith. I guess it depends how much of the invoice is outstanding.

Of course, the previous occupiers should have included this debt in their bankruptcy proceedings .....

welshcakes

I can't find that the property was obtained by deception if there was a contract agreeing to supply an item at a specific price and that the goods were supplied as described; the fact that the invoice has yet to be settled by the purchaser does not imply any deception or misrepresentation by either party.

silvercar

I found it odd that the bill wasn't cleared from the proceeds of the sale of the house. If the contractor had persued the bill promptly in the Summer he should have got his money before they went bankrupt. He could have submitted his bill to the solicitor dealing with the sale, I know there was oodles of equity left over from the sale.

Lots of odd things happening, like why wasn't this bill included with the bankruptcy debts?

He if did retrieve his items then the building regs certificate would need to be retracted!

Presumably the trespass laws apply; I have no obligation to allow him onto the premises.

Debt_Free_Chick

silvercar wrote:

He if did retrieve his items then the building regs certificate would need to be retracted!

This is the bizarre thing with building regs. You only need to comply at the time of the inspection. You can later change or remove things and, even if this contravenes building regs, the original certificate will still stand!

Presumably the trespass laws apply; I have no obligation to allow him onto the premises.

I think this is what you would rely on, if the builders attempted recovery. They would need to get a Court Order and appoint bailiffs to remove the goods (they would need a Warrant to gain entry) and - at this point - I wonder if the Court would agree. I would hope that they see sense i.e. you purchased the goods in good faith (and you have a contract for it!!) and that the builder must pursue the previous occupiers.

I think that you are relatively safe as the goods have been "sold on" (to you).

silvercar

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

I think this is what you would rely on, if the builders attempted recovery. They would need to get a Court Order and appoint bailiffs to remove the goods (they would need a Warrant to gain entry) and - at this point - I wonder if the Court would agree. I would hope that they see sense i.e. you purchased the goods in good faith (and you have a contract for it!!) and that the builder must pursue the previous occupiers.

I don't know that the builder is aware that the people he did the work for have moved. He is also clearly not aware they are bankrupt. He has got a court order requesting payment, which i guess is an attempt to get a CCJ against them (bit fruitless being they are bankrupt). They would have been ignoring his letters, sent to my address, but forwarded by Royal Mail.

Could he go back to court and ask for baliffs to remove the goods, leaving himself and the court unaware that the property has new owners?

thesaint

How did you find out all this information?

PoorDave

What value of items are we talking? Could it be that you're willing (if it comes to it - people saying "pay me or i'll take my items back") to pay the bill, then proceed against the ex-owner?