Buyer's solicitor wants to with-hold money

CharlieBubble

I'm due to complete on the sale of my flat to a FTB who wants to avoid paying stamp duty. Today I was told by my solicitor that as the final annual accounts for the residents limited company have not been published this year, the buyer's solicitor wants to with-hold £500 in case there are any unexpected deficits in the accounts that need to be paid.

Is this normal? My first thought is to tell them to !!!! off as I have just forked out £500 to pay for the first 6 months worth of maintenance charges (March to August), which benefits her as I will only own the flat for less than one month of this period.

Notmyrealname

I wouldn't lose a sale for the sake of £500 I know I'm going to get down the line.

CharlieBubble

Thanks for the reply timmy. This is my opinion too. A sale should really be finalised on completion. They get he flat, I get the money. Why should I have to be wait around for the buyer to remember to let their solicitor know there were no extra payments required. I told my solicitor that in the 13 years at the property I have never once had to pay any extra, above the usual maintenance fees. To my knowledge nothing out of the ordinary has happened to the building this year that may suddenly require hundreds of pounds from each of the 20 flat owners to suddenly be demanded. My other worry is that the buyer will make up some reason or other to not be 100% happy with everything and try and get their hands on the money for some unrelated reason.

Richard_Webster

I agree with TimmyT, but we go against the fashion, I'm afraid.

A counter argument is to say that if £500 is to be held back and not paid to you then the buyer should give his solicitors an extra £500 for them to hold in case the amounts you have paid over the past year turn out to be too much and the then flat owner is entitled to a credit, which is rightfully yours. Sometimes when it is put that way they haven't got a spare £500 and they decide not to press the point!

lizzyshep

The same happened to me recently and my initial reaction was the same. I was told by my solicitor this is normal practice and I will get a refund if it turns out the money was not needed. I wouldn't worry too much :-)

Yorkie1

Sounds as though the buyer wants his cake and to eat it. There is nothing stopping him waiting, other than his desire to save on stamp duty.

vax2002

I would have thought a straight no would suffice and keep the flat on the market until they do complete.

Nessa56

lizzyshep wrote: »

The same happened to me recently and my initial reaction was the same. I was told by my solicitor this is normal practice and I will get a refund if it turns out the money was not needed. I wouldn't worry too much :-)

The same happened to me about 4 years ago, and I did get my money back as soon as accounts were sorted and again I was assured that this was normal practice

HTH

v
x

Kynthia

I think this is normal too. When I bought my flat my solicitor held on to a few hundred of the sellers incase any charges came in. A few months later my solicitor wrote to me asking had there been any charges as if not they would refund the seller, I wrote back saying no and all was fine.