Solicitor Changed Contract After Signing!

sho_me_da_money

Hello there,

One of my mates has bought a new house (new build) where part of the agreement was that the developer would contribute £5K towards his deposit.

To cut a long story, the paperwork (contract) came through and this £5K figure was noted down as £11K. Obviously he kept shtum to see how the deal went. Further contracts came through and all parties signed and agreed on £11K.

In the week of moving in, the solicitor (appointed by the developer) provided a summary of the fees owed to the developer, which excluded their £6K mistake. This paperwork was not a contract, it was merely a summary/instruction to transfer the owed funds.

So my mate requested a copy of the contract from the solicitor. She forwarded it through with a blatant X over the £11K amount.

Other than having the option to cancel and pull out of the agreement, does he have any other legal right to recover the agreed amount?

Thanks

theartfullodger

Did he have his own solicitor or was the developers solicitor also acting for him?? If so what is he saying??

(No offence..) but always use your own, independent, solicitor rather than take "free {yeah, right...}" solicitor from the supplier....

sho_me_da_money

From what I understand, the developers solicitor was X and the one my mate used was recommended by the developer. The developer also added an incentive that if he was to go with their recommended solicitor, he would get a double-drive instead of a single one.

The recommended solicitor was not a freebie in this case. He had to pay her as he would have done if going with an independent.

In hindsight, you are correct - he should have appointed his own rep.

jjlandlord

From what you described the agreed amount was 5k, not 11k. So at the end all is as agreed and there is no problem, isn't it?

Now, if the contract document stating 11k was executed by both parties I suppose it legally stands. So if you had an original copy of such a document you might be able to claim the extra 6k.

But again, as it was obviously a mistake, why do that? Why threaten to cancel and pull out? (which you can't do easily).
Seems like a dishonest thing to do to basically con as much money as possible.

sho_me_da_money

Yes the agreed verbal amount was £5K but they made a £6K mistake and the contract was signed by all parties and is therefore legally binding.

Of course there is an element of morality to this but at the end of the day, it is what it is - they messed up, and my mate capitalized on it. There's nothing dishonest about saving £6K due to a mistake they made. The Onus is on them to get the sums and paperwork right. It's a bit like finding a bargain on the web only to find the retailer made a mistake on the price. In most cases, they honour the sale. The same should apply here.

An argument could be made that the mortgage rate and house prices in this country, in this economy are dishonest. But that is a completely separate issue. He hasn't done anything illegal. He just went ahead with something they signed and agreed to.

Once the contract was signed, my mate spent in excess of £6K to furnish his new place and at the very last minute they spotted the mistake and blatantly drew an X through it.

If he accepts the mistake, he is short of £6K and is put to the hassle of trying to reverse engineer the enhancements made.

The right thing for them to do is honour their mistake but they clearly are not doing so.

jjlandlord

Once the contract was signed, my mate spent in excess of £6K to furnish his new place and at the very last minute they spotted the mistake and blatantly drew an X through it.

If he accepts the mistake, he is short of £6K and is put to the hassle of trying to reverse engineer the enhancements made.

That's a ludicrous statement.

It looks like you and your mate are the type to scream 'neck pain' when your car is hit by an old lady's trolley.
Good luck with your gold digging.

sho_me_da_money

jjlandlord wrote: »

That's a ludicrous statement.

I'm sure that you and your mate are the type to scream 'neck pain' when your car is hit by an old lady's trolley.
Good luck with your gold digging.

No, because that is being dishonest and lying (if there was no neck pain)

We are moving away from the topic at hand. This isn't a discussion about being moral or honest. This is an issue surrounding the legality of what has occurred.

I appreciate your personal views regarding what is right and wrong etc. but this comes down to contractual law and I was hoping if anyone could offer their views on this particular matter.

DVardysShadow

jjlandlord wrote: »

From what you described the agreed amount was 5k, not 11k. So at the end all is as agreed and there is no problem, isn't it?

Now, if the contract document stating 11k was executed by both parties I suppose it legally stands. So if you had an original copy of such a document you might be able to claim the extra 6k.

But again, as it was obviously a mistake, why do that? Why threaten to cancel and pull out? (which you can't do easily).
Seems like a dishonest thing to do to basically con as much money as possible.

Where that falls down is if you turn it around and OP's friend had agreed £k11 but signed £k6, every one would be saying "your friend's loss, should have read the contract, it is what is written which counts."

sho_me_da_money

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Where that falls down is if you turn it around and OP's friend had agreed £k11 but signed £k6, every one would be saying "your friend's loss, should have read the contract, it is what is written which counts."

Precisely. If this was the other way around, then I'd be getting told its my mates fault for not reading "the small print" so to speak.

Its funny how when a consumer messes up for not reading the wording and signing a contract, he gets crucified but when the fat cats fudge up its all about morality and honesty. Gimme a break. As DVS said, it is what's written that counts.

Now I am familiar that some contracts (non-housing area) can be changed after signing but I needed to find out what options he has:

1. Accepting the mistake and paying the extra 6K
2. Not accepting the mistake and therefore rendering the contract void
3. Not accepting the mistake and attempting to recover the excess amount a different way.

Not really sure about property law.

penguingirl

Did your friend (or their solicitors) take a photocopy of the contract before it was amended?

jjlandlord

sho_me_da_money wrote: »

What's written is what stands.

Well, what exactly is written?
Seems to me that a trail probably exists that 5k is what was agreed, and that no copy of the contract showing 11k can be produced.

So again, seems to be a lot of trouble, and potential expenses, to rectify a non-mistake and nonexistent loss.