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

492800

I've tried to get the management company to accept some responsibility, but this has not been fruitful (and I've had advice on it). my only avenue is to go after the vendors.

And the letter that they "should" have received came well before exchange/completion.

Whats the chance that a single piece of mail that contains a £4k bill gets lost in the post?.. or is lost by the vendors on purpose? hmmm.!

My solicitor has said that taking them to court could cost, but I was thinking of the small claims court, but only if its not a waste of time

hamster2013

again... all will depend what the £4k is for.
if its for work already conducted (which i doubt - these management companies ask for the monies up front and then get the work done) - you might have a case.

if its for work that will be done now.... i would just take it as a cost you would have paid anyways if it was decided and sent to you only now.

492800

The £4k is for water storage in the loft due to rust build up over the past 50 years.
I may well benefit from the essential works, but during their ownership the damage was also being done.

If i had been told of this bill I would obviously asked for a reduction in the price. I am sure most people would have done the same. no?

My case is that the vendor most likely knew about the bill and hid the bill, and didnt inform their solictor as per the "P.I.F." which they signed and which stated that they should let me know of any upcoming bills. Therefore they broke the contract and should be liable to the bill for not informing me..

Doesn't that sound right?

hazyjo

492800 wrote: »

The £4k is for water storage in the loft due to rust build up over the past 50 years.
I may well benefit from the essential works, but during their ownership the damage was also being done.

If i had been told of this bill I would obviously asked for a reduction in the price. I am sure most people would have done the same. no?

My case is that the vendor most likely knew about the bill and hid the bill, and didnt inform their solictor as per the "P.I.F." which they signed and which stated that they should let me know of any upcoming bills. Therefore they broke the contract and should be liable to the bill for not informing me..

Doesn't that sound right?

Pure speculation though.

Unless they signed for a letter, I doubt you have a leg to stand on.

I still put the blame with the management company and/or your solicitor. ESPECIALLY when it comes to ex-LA flats. Notoriously bad for huge charges to flat-owners (not usually LA tenants).

Jx

tim123456789

492800 wrote: »

The £4k is for water storage in the loft due to rust build up over the past 50 years.
I may well benefit from the essential works, but during their ownership the damage was also being done.

If i had been told of this bill I would obviously asked for a reduction in the price. I am sure most people would have done the same. no?

My case is that the vendor most likely knew about the bill and hid the bill, and didnt inform their solictor as per the "P.I.F." which they signed and which stated that they should let me know of any upcoming bills. Therefore they broke the contract and should be liable to the bill for not informing me..

Doesn't that sound right?

That wouldn't normally work as your solicitor will be expected to ask the MA the same question that they asked the vendor.

why didn't they?

tim

492800

Sorry for the slow reply.. (family stuff)

Thanks for your input folks, I'll try and reply to your questions:

ILW wrote: »

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.

I cant prove it no.. But statistically its very unlikely they did not get it. But nope, no actual proof.
And they would have received the letter well before exchange. So the contract should stand, and they would be in breech of it.

hazyjo wrote: »

I still put the blame with the management company and/or your solicitor.

I have tried really hard with the management agency and they finally came back saying that any paperwork they supply does not have to be a full list, or upto date. Therefore I have no come back. Unfortunately, LEASE.org agreed with this.. Shocking isn't it!

tim123456789 wrote: »

That wouldn't normally work as your solicitor will be expected to ask the MA the same question that they asked the vendor.
why didn't they?
tim

Sorry Tim, Im not sure I fully understand, and what does the accronym MA mean

cattie

Surely as an ex local authority flat your solicitor would have checked & double checked that there were no large maintenance/repair works & resultant bills expected for the next 5 yrs or so with the freeholders or the managing agents?

492800

Hi Cattie,
Thanks for your question.

He said he requested the forms from the council and that pre-assignment paperwork usually carries all the relevant information within it.

Would one expect him to do more than this? or is this usually sufficient?

Would any of you solicitors out there agree or disagree?

tim123456789

492800 wrote: »

Sorry Tim, Im not sure I fully understand, and what does the accronym MA mean

Managing Agents (in this case the council).

You sol will have sent out a standard enquiry to them "is there any pre-planed work in the pipeline that you have informed the current tenant of?"

He doesn't rely on the current tenant to tell him he asks the MA as well.

tim

492800

Ahh, ok thanks tim, that makes sense.

My sol had requested a preinformation pack from the Managing agents which didn't have future works on it (like I mentioned above). But as far as I am aware, he didn't additionally call them to find out.
Also this 'bill/quote' arrived half way through the whole buying process, and after some of the searches/paperwork had been carried out.

Would a solicitor, just before exchange, usually phone up to find if anything had changed in the interim?