House buying: Sale Fell Through, How Do You Claim?

Gaz1980

Hi.
I bought a house, but the sales fell through, the people selling it have backed out.
However I've already paid all the fees to the solicitors and estate agents. How do I go about claiming any of it back if indeed I can?

William H Brown Estate Agents
14th May 2012 is when they took £498.00 for arranging Mortgage etc.

14th May 2012 HALIFAX DIRECT. £355.00 (From the cost of Wiliam H Brown arranging the Mortgage).

17th May 2012 Blacks solicitors. £295.00

29th May 2012: Connells Survey & Valuation Ltd £475.00
22nd June 2012: £108.24 Blacks solicitors. More search fees.
01/09/2012: ã78107.54 (Deposit and other legal fees £1727.64, Stamp Duty £1675.00, Indemnity Insurance - Chancel Sure £26.50, Indemnity Insurance - First Title £46.64

I should be getting the main deposit back from the Solicitors (it's been 3 weeks and they have only just returned the cheque - not been delivered yet though).

Is it worth taking the people selling the house to a small claims court or anything to try and get back what I paid out to get a mortgage etc?

Cheers.
Gareth.

mildred1978

Gaz1980 wrote: »

Hi.
I bought a house, but the sales fell through, the people selling it have backed out.
However I've already paid all the fees to the solicitors and estate agents. How do I go about claiming any of it back if indeed I can?

William H Brown Estate Agents
14th May 2012 is when they took £498.00 for arranging Mortgage etc.

14th May 2012 HALIFAX DIRECT. £355.00 (From the cost of Wiliam H Brown arranging the Mortgage).

17th May 2012 Blacks solicitors. £295.00

29th May 2012: Connells Survey & Valuation Ltd £475.00
22nd June 2012: £108.24 Blacks solicitors. More search fees.
01/09/2012: ã78107.54 (Deposit and other legal fees £1727.64, Stamp Duty £1675.00, Indemnity Insurance - Chancel Sure £26.50, Indemnity Insurance - First Title £46.64

I should be getting the main deposit back from the Solicitors (it's been 3 weeks and they have only just returned the cheque - not been delivered yet though).

Is it worth taking the people selling the house to a small claims court or anything to try and get back what I paid out to get a mortgage etc?

Cheers.
Gareth.

Unless you had exchanged contracts before it fell through you can't claim anything from anybody, I'm afraid.

pinkteapot

^^ Spot on.

Assuming you're in England rather than Scotland, buyer or seller can pull out at any point up to exchange of contracts with no penalty at all. You can't take them to court because you have no right to claim money from them.

anselld

You will get deposit and stamp duty back and possibly some insurances if the solicitor has not yet set them up. Otherwise as above, kiss goodbye.

dimbo61

As others have said you will get your deposit and some other bits.
Please check with the Halifax as you may still be able to use the money paid to them to get a mortgage on another property?
Same with the solictor and I would also be popping back to the estate agents Because they have not arranged the mortgage ( you do not have a mortgage because the Vendor pulled out of the deal ( NOT YOU )
buying a property can be very expensive and you now have to start all over again

Mickygg

Good old English house buying legal system. Isn't it fabulous.

I feel your pain, had it happen and lost a lot. Then had to save for another 6 months to get it back. Very unfair, but then the people at the top at no.10 and 11 etc are given their houses so why would they care about hard workers losing lots of cash.


Things have to change. But won't.

googler

Mickygg wrote: »

Good old English house buying legal system. Isn't it fabulous.

I feel your pain, had it happen and lost a lot. Then had to save for another 6 months to get it back. Very unfair, but then the people at the top at no.10 and 11 etc are given their houses so why would they care about hard workers losing lots of cash.


Things have to change. But won't.

Here's what the housing minister had to say on gazumping earlier in the year; part of his answer is relevant to the OP's situation - he thinks there's options for lock-in agreements, etc....

"Housing minister Grant Shapps has ruled out taking any action to stamp out gazumping.

He was replying to a question from Gordon Henderson, Tory MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey in Kent.

It is not known whether in the current market gazumping is a problem in his constituency or what prompted the question.

He asked Shapps in the Commons whether he “plans to take steps to mitigate the adverse effects of the practice of gazumping in the housing market”.

Shapps replied: “Home buyers and sellers in England and Wales are free to choose from a range of options, including some which give more certainty that their transaction will be completed.

“These include ‘lock-out’ agreements, where the seller enters a binding agreement not to accept another offer within a certain period; ‘option to purchase’ where the seller grants the buyer a binding option to purchase the property at the agreed price within a set timescale; ‘conditional contracts’, where buyer and seller enter into a contract as soon as terms have been agreed, subject to certain conditions being satisfied; or ‘costs guarantee’, where both buyer and seller agree to pay the other side’s costs if they withdraw from the transaction.

“Given the flexibility of the present system, we have no plans for reform in this area at the present time.

“Home Information Packs, introduced under the last administration, were originally supposed to help tackle gazumping.

“In practice, they did no such thing as they were not trusted by buyers, and merely deterred sellers from putting their homes on the market. This is why the Coalition Government has abolished the requirement to have a Home Information Pack, saving home buyers and sellers from the unnecessary regulatory cost.”"

pinkteapot

Same answer has been given in OP's other thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4184981

OP - I honestly don't mean to sound harsh but I don't think you fully understand the process of buying a house. For example, in your other thread you kept saying you had "bought a house" but you hadn't - all that had happened was that you had had an offer accepted. You certainly shouldn't be sending your deposit money to your solicitor until you are close to exchange, not right at the start.

Can I suggest you read up more about the process online before offering on another house? This site is good:

http://www.home.co.uk/guides/buying/

Also, re your other thread, don't let estate agents convince you to use their tied solicitors. Find your own locally.

Sorry to hear this purchase fell through.

Fire_Fox

It's really confusing you saying you bought a house when you did not, you merely had an offer accepted. You won't get accurate advice if you make erroneous statements. You only have a legally binding contract against which you can claim for losses at exchange of contracts and have only bought a house at completion.

It's worth running an advanced search, this issue has been discussed many times.

PasturesNew

If the seller had paid out that much on their next house, then you simply changed your mind and pulled out of buying, would you expect them to be able to claim from you? No.

Until contracts have exchanged it's cost and risk for both parties.

barnaby-bear

Gaz1980 wrote: »

Hi.
I bought a house, but the sales fell through, the people selling it have backed out.
However I've already paid all the fees to the solicitors and estate agents. How do I go about claiming any of it back if indeed I can?

William H Brown Estate Agents
14th May 2012 is when they took £498.00 for arranging Mortgage etc.

14th May 2012 HALIFAX DIRECT. £355.00 (From the cost of Wiliam H Brown arranging the Mortgage).

17th May 2012 Blacks solicitors. £295.00

29th May 2012: Connells Survey & Valuation Ltd £475.00
22nd June 2012: £108.24 Blacks solicitors. More search fees.
01/09/2012: ã78107.54 (Deposit and other legal fees £1727.64, Stamp Duty £1675.00, Indemnity Insurance - Chancel Sure £26.50, Indemnity Insurance - First Title £46.64

I should be getting the main deposit back from the Solicitors (it's been 3 weeks and they have only just returned the cheque - not been delivered yet though).

Is it worth taking the people selling the house to a small claims court or anything to try and get back what I paid out to get a mortgage etc?

Cheers.
Gareth.

you might have a gripe with the solicitor for paying out on the indemnities before exchange, usually you do it after! But other than the deposit - most of it's gone I'm afraid....