No keys to my new house.. where do I stand?

pinkteapot

savingbee wrote: »

the only set of keys the seller had was given to the ea which are now lost. I only managed to get in because the vendors sister had a spare to the back

So for the last couple of months the vendor has had no key to their own house?!!

savingbee

it was a probate sale, therefore EA had keys all along. daughters went to estate agent to get keys when they wanted to clear out etc. it's very difficult and it doesn't help when different parties are passing the buck!

savingbee

savingbee wrote: »

the only set of keys the seller had was given to the ea which are now lost. I only managed to get in because the vendors sister had a spare to the back

sorry I meant the front!

ValHaller

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

I'd be cautious about making a claim against the EA, as I'm not sure if they have any legal obligation in relation to the keys. Best to check the contract and/or ask your solicitor if the EA has any liability towards you for not providing the keys.

Remember that the sales/purchase contract is between buyer & seller and the EA was/is the seller's agent. You may have a case against the seller - and they, in turn, against the EA - but buyer may not have a case directly against the seller's EA

This is correct. The vendor may have a claim against the agent, but OP's claim is against vendor.

savingbee

ValHaller wrote: »

This is correct. The vendor may have a claim against the agent, but OP's claim is against vendor.

but vendor gave all keys they had to EA and now misplaced.. how can I claim against the vendor?

Road_Hog

DaftyDuck wrote: »

But, locksmith aside, a door needs to be open to replace the lock.

Nope, I've stood and watched a double glazing person replace a failed lock on a UPVC door in my house. Takes them seconds to remove the lock.


For window replacement keys, this site is useful in that if you don't know what keys you need, you can take a digital photo of the window lock and send it to them. They'll then identify the lock.



http://www.handlesandhinges.co.uk/window-handle-keys/


The OP needs to put in a claim in on both the EA and the Vendor (joint claim) if they fail to rectify the situation. The question here is, what is a reasonable timescale.


Somebody else must have a set of keys. If the property was empty, then I would have thought that unoccupied insurance would have been in place, which always states that the property must be visited (usually every week or two weeks) and kept in good order.

Debt_Free_Chick

savingbee wrote: »

but vendor gave all keys they had to EA and now misplaced.. how can I claim against the vendor?

What the vendor did with the keys is irrelevant. You had a contract with the vendor, not the EA. You have no contractual relationship ie relationship in law, with the EA.

Check the contract or contact your solicitor to see who was responsible for handing over the keys. To be honest, if you have you pay your solicitor to sort this out, you might just as well get a locksmith out :j

savingbee

bit of an update. just been to estate agents, they have said they only ever had one key for the front door that was lost by the surveyor. So it lies with the vendor... as she has stated on the F+F that all keys for doors and windows will be left at the house or EA. and as that's a legal document she has ticked something that is incorrect.

So will be on the phone to solicitors in the morning. not impressed!

silvercar

savingbee wrote: »

bit of an update. just been to estate agents, they have said they only ever had one key for the front door that was lost by the surveyor. So it lies with the vendor... as she has stated on the F+F that all keys for doors and windows will be left at the house or EA. and as that's a legal document she has ticked something that is incorrect.

So will be on the phone to solicitors in the morning. not impressed!

We had similar, a key for the balcony door was missing. It was promised that it would be left in the property, it wasn't. Similarly some window locks didn't have keys.

We were told that ticking "all keys would be left in the property" means that they leave all the keys they have, it does not oblige them to get keys made up for locks without keys.

Mylo_The_Moggy

In my experience it's always best to change the locks anyway.
When we bought our house in January this year, we arranged with the seller to hand the keys over to us. She came to our old house to hand them over personally.
When she did, she only had the 1 set for the side door. Said they'd "Lost" the other sets while out drunk one night & they didn't have any spares. When I asked where the front door key was she told me it was on the inside of the door, actually in the lock, & that was the only front door key there was too as other was also lost. No spares. Why on earth she didn't take it out & hand it over with the side one I do not know. Seemed to like taking risks.
Not a great start!
Within a matter of hours we changed the locks for fear of any repercussions to the lost keys. It was only weeks later that I found the said sets of lost keys.............

In the recycling bin outside in amongst all their crap they had shoved in it before moving out!!!!! Clearly they somehow found their way into the bin, then without realizing filled it with their crap: shoes, handbags, garden bits & bobs, tools.
Anyone raking through the bin would have had a field day in our house had we not changed the locks.

Hope you manage to get to the bottom of this situation & get those locks changed as soon as.