Pls HELP! Negligent solicitor caused developer to withdraw from sale!

Sbmcb_2

Due to complete yesterday. Deposit ready, contracts ready to be signed etc. Raised question with solicitor last week asking for clarification about the boundaries of our plot-did they include bushes/trees in neighbouring field as this is what it looked like on the plan.

We received no response from solicitor and reminded him twice. At one point he said "just think of worst case scenario and you can't be disappointed".

10.30am told yes you're jointly responsible for a 20ft oak tree in field next door. We panicked asked for time to think over/get advice of financial and practical implications. Developer said no the deals off as you won't complete today. We're heartbroken!

Lost deposit, survey fees, solicitors fees.

Was the solicitor at fault for not disclosing this until last minute despite us chasing him? Lots of other questions we raised also went unanswered-not big things but even still.

Begged developer yesterday to let us complete Monday. They said no - the discount we negotiated was only valid til Friday. Said our fault for not making sure we got the answers sooner.

If we're in the wrong, that's fine. Just looking for some friendly impartial advice. Obviously we'll be asking for legal advice tomorrow.

Thank you

BazzaDP

You knew this was a risk as you kept chasing it. So you should have been prepared to deal if either answer, or accepted that you would only proceed if the answer was X. You solicitor sounds slow, but doubt there is grounds for suing him/her for you loses if that's what you are thinking.

Developer might just try to play hardball. Or want to make it clear they don't want to have endless delays (if this known issue caused a delay, what else might?). If you have decided you still want house despite this new information then go back to Developer on Monday and say you are prepared to sign now. They might still say no, but no harm in asking again.

zzzLazyDaisy

(Assuming you are in England) either party can withdraw from the sale up to exchange, which is usually but not always about 2 weeks before completion. It may be that you were due to exchange and complete on the same day, but assuming you were buying with a mortgage, that was never going to happen on Friday anyway, because the solicitor needs to notify the lender the day before that completion is going ahead in order to ensure that funds are ready.

It seems strange that the developer has pulled out of the sale so abruptly, as now they have to find another buyer and wait another several weeks to get the funds in. Have there been other delays or problems with this sale?

I also don't understand how you can be held responsible for a tree that is not on your land. Has the solicitor explained this to you?

Edit - unless the land is leasehold and the tree is on communal land, in which case you may be jointly liable with other owners under the terms of the lease?

sbmcb

Thank you Bazza - that's all I want really is someone outside the situation to give me an idea of what they're thinking.

That's true I guess we should have considered what we would have done in the event the tree was our responsibility-we didnt; we panicked.

We were forced to use their solicitor you see-we had no choice and kept telling developer we weren't happy with his lack of response. Sales team appeared sympathetic and helped chased him. Then on Fri when they said the sale was off, they turned sour and said 'you need to speak to your solicitor' implying it was none of their business now despite us forcing us to use him!

So much money to lose. So unfair. End of developers tax year Friday which is why they were willing to negotiate on price (we didn't know this-found out yesterday). Gutted......

ILW

Things are picking up, developer probably had a better offer on the table and was looking for a reason to lose you. You gave it to him.

sbmcb

Thank you lazydazy. We literally begged for extension until Monday and they said no...we said same things, they have to start process all over again whereas we want to complete Monday.... They said no its back on market and they're confident they'll now get the advertised price because of this homebuy deal-people will pay more with it.

Had to pay a 500 reservation deposit which we've lost, 1200 solicitors fees, 500 survey. Just seems so unfair

sbmcb

ILW - I posted before reading yours, I agree. He said as much himself as well. Just seems unfair that we're at a financial loss because of it tho.

Does anyone think we have a leg to stand on by seeking reimbursement for costs?

zzzLazyDaisy

sbmcb wrote: »

Does anyone think we have a leg to stand on by seeking reimbursement for costs?

Not a chance.

I_have_spoken

Yep, looks like developer anticipated more ££ on the table by selling to another buyer.

Probably only option is to shame the developer by writing to Solicitor, their HQ and trade bodies, MP, local press etc.

Is this an estate development ? I'd leaflet outside their show home to let other viewers know.

sbmcb

Lazydazy the property is freehold. If you imagine where the house is, there's a drive/road way infront and then opposite there's a grass verge and a fence. However the boundary lines show that the property we were buying went behind this fence and into the neighbouring field. Our initial question to the solicitor was how would we be expected to maintain this piece of land, who owned the bushes and the trees but he never responded to us at all. On thurs when we said we needed clarification before signing, we suddenly got an email the same morning. He never explained anything more than a forwarded message saying:

The developer believes the tree to be shared ownership

Edit: requested info on thurs 20th June when received plot outline/searches from solicitor. No response. Chased up again fri 21st then tie 25th then daily. Finally got this response on fri day of completion at 10.30am

sbmcb

I have spoken....that's exactly what the guy at head office said to me. They offered discount and incentives (a washing machine) based on us completing fri 28th June.

As we didn't complete - they don't care about the reasons behind it - it's back on the market and they're confident they will get the full advertised price of 430k.