Suing the vendor for non-disclosure of upcoming bills.. Possible?

492800

Hello forumers,
Hopefully some of you can help with a question.

I was wondering if any of you have ever successfully sued the previous owners of your property for not letting you know of any upcoming bills that may be planned by the Landlord.

If a bill had been posted to the vendor just before completion and they hadnt then let anyone know is there possible recourse due to this? Or just bad luck timing.

Any thoughts appreciated..
thanks

ognum

I think you may need to be a bit more specific , your post is a bit confusing. Thanks

hamster2013

before completion or before exchange?
did you solicitor ask that question to which the vendor said explicitly 'no' ?

usually the solicitor forms have that question in one format or another - dependant.
Also would depend on what was signed upon in the exchange contracts exchanged between solicitors.... check that

plus what others have mentioned - very little information to provide any useful input.

G_M

Exchange of Contracts is when... the contract is exchanged!


What happens after that, whether between exchange & Completion, just after Completion, or 5 years later, is irrelevant.

duchy

If it was after exchange it wouldn't have changed anything.

If you believe the vendor had prior knowledge that it was coming *before* exchange -there may be a case but it'll depend what questions your solicitor asked on the endless form the vendor signed.

What does your solicitor say ?

nomoneytoday

Did you (or your sol) ask if there were any bills known about?

When was it sent?
Is there a sinking fund already in place?
Will you get the benefit of the work?
Is there a retention?

492800

Ok sorry for the confusion. I'll elaborate a bit better.

The vendors filled out a Property Information Form before exchange and stated there were no upcoming bills.
On this form it also stated that

"it is important that your answers are correct. If you give incorrect information or incomplete information to the buyer, the buyer may make a claim for compensation from you."
...
"If you later become aware of any information which would alter any replies you have given you must inform your solicitor immediately..."

I have since found out from the Freeholder that a couple of days after filling out the form one letter was sent to the vendors saying there was a £4,000 bill to be expected within a few months time.
We hadnt exchanged at this point.

1 month after we completed, I got a letter from the freeholder letting me know about upcoming bill. To say the least I was shocked.

So, in essence they had been sent a letter, but not declared it.

Hopefully this will have made a bit more sense?

ILW

Can you prove they received the letter?
I would susupect that the "inform your solictor of any changes" would only apply to point of exchange.

492800

p.s. There is no sinking fund as it is ex-local flat and is essential for all flats

The work is starting very soon. But the original bill/quote was sent back in July 2012. (completion was Oct 2013).

hazyjo

If ex-LA, I presume there's some sort of management company? Your solicitor should have requested a pack from them (usually at the vendor's expense if there's a charge). Very surprised if they didn't... maybe someone else can confirm the exact procedure and whether or not that's mandatory or optional.

Jx

hamster2013

what is the £4000 bill for?
if its for work to happen - surely you will benefit from it and your seller did not benefit from it.

what is your case in court ?
what will you tell the judge: if you had known, would you have not purchased the property ?
or will you say that if you had known you would have asked for a reduction for work that is not done but for which you will benefit and the seller will not..... ?
and if the seller had refused to reduce price you would have walked away?

basically... before making a claim - you need to assess if you have a base to make a claim.
maybe he never got that letter sent to him?

p/s: agree with hazyjo - in the case of leaseholds, solicitors (and lenders) require to get the current state of accounts and upcoming expenses from the managing company - and this is usually a case of delay as they tend not to answer, and they can not take the sellers word for it.