PLEASE please help-elderly neighbours want to stop sale.

happymummy24-7

Hi everyone,
I am hoping you can give me some advice for my elderly neighbours who two months ago sold their house.On the day the for sale sign was put up the man had a heart attack and was taken to hospital leaving his wife very upset and confused.the next day a lady arrived at their house offering the asking price and my neighbour accepted it-although the estate agent told her she was mad!-anyway the reason she accepted the asking price was because she didnt care about the house,she was too busy worrying about her husband lying in hospital.
I will try and cut the story short!!
He recovered and they decided they really didnt want to sell and have basically been having a breakdown about it since they signed the contract.
They really are frail,in their late 70's and i am desperate to help them!
They are supposed to be out by this wednesday and i talked to their solicitor on the phone an hour ago to try to explain but she was completley un-sympothetic,she didnt even know the man had had a heart attack and tried to scare them by saying they will be sued by the other people for the difference of what they paid for their house and what they buy the next one for and also all th eother costs etc,and now my neighbours are even more confused and scared.she told them also that they would be served with an order that will force them to sell the house anyway
this is just breaking my heart,so please if their is anyone who knows of anyway they can keep their home PLEASE please let me know ASAP they have been asked to meet their solicitor tomorrow to sign something to say they dont want to sell but i am worried that she will be aggressive with them and they wont say what they really want to,to make it worse they are both nearly deaf!I have told them to take their son with them and insist they have no-where to live,they cant afford to rent,and their health is deteriorating becase of this,i just hope he goes with them-i cant go as i have three young girls and cant get them looked after or believe me i would be there!!!
Thank you for taking the time to read such a long story,i hope you get the gereral gist of the situation,laura.thank you

BlondeHeadOn

What a dreadful situation, I can't help but am replying to bump this up to the top of the list again - I do hope someone here can help!!

chant1l

What are they signing tomorrow?
If it is the contract, and they don't there is NOTHING the other side can do.
I actually can't think what else they would need to be signing
Talk to an independant solicitor who does legal conveyancing, they will know the ins and outs of failure to complete, which may ahve the consequences you mention.

dunstonh

signing the contracts means its too late if the other party wants to proceed.

Contracts are signed many weeks after sale is agreed. There are plenty of time to pull out before it gets that far. So why did they let it get that far?

They dont really have a leg to stand on and the solicitor is correct in pointing out the legal position. The solicitor isnt there to be all cuddles. There is no point having a sympathetic solicitor. You want one that tells you the position.

happymummy24-7

oh thank you,time isnt on our side! i just know that if anything can be done,someone on this site will know what it is!! xxx

prudryden

Try Google for Help the Aged and any other elderly abuse sites. Although, this may not be Elderly Abuse as such, they will be concerned. Elderly abuse is becoming a very hot potatoe, especially in the Undue Influence arena.

Sarahpuggy

So have they actually signed the contracts?

How did it get this far if they decided long ago that they didn't want to sell?

Optimist

You really need to find out exactly what they are supposed to be signing tomorrow !

happymummy24-7

sorry we all messaged at once!
I completley agree,they have already signed the contract and so its their own fault.BUT they dont have anyone for advice eg family-the son isnt much to talk about really-and they were swepted along and felf it was impossible to stop what they had started,this has only just come to light today when i called in to give them a leaving card!otherwise i would have been there earilier to try and stop them signing.
Im sorry i know solicitors are doing their job,i was just upset,they were both standing beside me when i was talking to her and looking to me to help them and i really dont know what to do.thanks for the replys keep them comming-i realise we are most likely to be beaten!

happymummy24-7

they ar esigning something to say they want to stop the sale

leftieM

Would it be possible to appeal to the buyer's good nature - say offer to refund their costs to date if they walk away now?
I also don't understand why your neighbour have let things get to this point. They must have had weeks to walk away from the sale.