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Arrangement outside of exchange of contacts turns sour
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peter_964rs
Posts: 31 Forumite
Long story cut short:
1. I have bought a property from a divorced couple for whom the sale was a condition of divorce.
2. The conveyance was fraught to say the least.
3. The chain nearly collapsed several times due to last minute hitches around the complex title to the property (old farmhouse that was part of larger plots that had been successively subdivided, and then badly conveyed, since the early 1900s).
4. One of the last sticking points proved to be the fact that I have a shared water supply with next door that is not recognised by the water company.
5. Therefore, when my lender turned around and imposed a condition of sale, being that we sink a borehole to get a private water supply (the alternative being that we lay a spearate pipe from the water main, which would have cost much more and taken longer due to having to dig up several fields owned by recalcitant farmers), I decided to proceed on the basis of a personal assurance that the seller (husband) would contribute £2k towards the estimated £8k cost.
6. As we were right close to the wire on exchange/completion I did not make this a condition of sale, against the advice of my solicitor.
7. Past history being the seller's solicitor was a complete PITA and very slow to respond, so for a relatively low risk we could move forwards and not wait for back and forth between solicitors that would probably impact our exchange/completion date, with movers booked, etc
8. Also, in mitigation we had a very good working relationship with the husband, with whom we had worked well to resolve many of the show stopping issues around water and land rights.
9. So we went ahead and exchanged then completed and moved in last week. We're exhausted but happy.
10. However, hubby has now returned to say he's discovered his ex-wife, with whom he is not on speaking terms and with which he gets agreement on the sale only through the same PITA solicitor, actually hadn't paid council tax and had amassed close to £10k of arrears.
11. The agreement being, it would be taken off the proceeds of the house. Annoyingly for him, his divorce agreement also meant he contributed to this act on her part
12. He now can't afford to pay the £2k he acknowledges he owes us, proposing to use a credit card when we come to actually sink the borehole (lender has given us 6 month's grace to do this). He says the arrears are such that he is already borrowing additional money to get into the house he's buying with the proceeds of the sale to us.
13. He may be telling the truth. he may be playing for time and could then revert with a 'won't pay' instead of 'can't pay but intend paying later' message at some point.
I have SMS and email messages from him confirming that he fully intends paying. So I could (I guess) argue a contract exists and, should 'won't pay' surface as the eventual answer, pursue him through small claims court. I am not expert, however, and wasn't sure where else to post the question other than here.
Any and all advice welcomed!
1. I have bought a property from a divorced couple for whom the sale was a condition of divorce.
2. The conveyance was fraught to say the least.
3. The chain nearly collapsed several times due to last minute hitches around the complex title to the property (old farmhouse that was part of larger plots that had been successively subdivided, and then badly conveyed, since the early 1900s).
4. One of the last sticking points proved to be the fact that I have a shared water supply with next door that is not recognised by the water company.
5. Therefore, when my lender turned around and imposed a condition of sale, being that we sink a borehole to get a private water supply (the alternative being that we lay a spearate pipe from the water main, which would have cost much more and taken longer due to having to dig up several fields owned by recalcitant farmers), I decided to proceed on the basis of a personal assurance that the seller (husband) would contribute £2k towards the estimated £8k cost.
6. As we were right close to the wire on exchange/completion I did not make this a condition of sale, against the advice of my solicitor.
7. Past history being the seller's solicitor was a complete PITA and very slow to respond, so for a relatively low risk we could move forwards and not wait for back and forth between solicitors that would probably impact our exchange/completion date, with movers booked, etc
8. Also, in mitigation we had a very good working relationship with the husband, with whom we had worked well to resolve many of the show stopping issues around water and land rights.
9. So we went ahead and exchanged then completed and moved in last week. We're exhausted but happy.
10. However, hubby has now returned to say he's discovered his ex-wife, with whom he is not on speaking terms and with which he gets agreement on the sale only through the same PITA solicitor, actually hadn't paid council tax and had amassed close to £10k of arrears.
11. The agreement being, it would be taken off the proceeds of the house. Annoyingly for him, his divorce agreement also meant he contributed to this act on her part
12. He now can't afford to pay the £2k he acknowledges he owes us, proposing to use a credit card when we come to actually sink the borehole (lender has given us 6 month's grace to do this). He says the arrears are such that he is already borrowing additional money to get into the house he's buying with the proceeds of the sale to us.
13. He may be telling the truth. he may be playing for time and could then revert with a 'won't pay' instead of 'can't pay but intend paying later' message at some point.
I have SMS and email messages from him confirming that he fully intends paying. So I could (I guess) argue a contract exists and, should 'won't pay' surface as the eventual answer, pursue him through small claims court. I am not expert, however, and wasn't sure where else to post the question other than here.
Any and all advice welcomed!
0
Comments
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To actually cut it short ....peter_964rs wrote: »
1. I have bought a property from a divorced couple
2. It has a shared water supply with next door that is not recognised by the water company.
3. Lender imposed a condition of sale, being that we sink a borehole.
4. I decided to proceed on the basis of a personal assurance that the seller (husband) would contribute £2k towards the estimated £8k cost. I did not make this a condition of sale, against the advice of my solicitor.
5. He now can't (now) afford to pay the £2k he acknowledges he owes us, but says he will still pay later.
6. I have SMS and email messages from him confirming that he fully intends paying. So I could argue a contract exists and pursue him through small claims court if he eventually doesn't pay.
Any and all advice welcomed!
I think you are correct a contract does exist and since you will not be out of pocket until the borehole is done I would take his word and pursue small claims if that fails.0 -
Have you had the work done yet?0
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do you still have the shared water supply?
could just fob off the lender about the borehole and try and avoid ever having to have it done
what are they going to ask for to confirm it's been done?
i would be surprised if they really care0 -
Work is not yet done. Also, I would have the work done, not fob off the lender, in case it impacts my eventual exit strategy and I have the same problems when I come to sell.
Being realistic, although I see myself living there for many years, if the lending landscape has changed so that it they're much more stringent against what they lend, it makes sense to sort it out.0 -
What exactly is the shared water supply, and what didn't your lender like about it? I have a shared water supply (shared between 6 properties from a hillside stream) and I had no problem getting a mortgage for it.0
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https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4876261=What exactly is the shared water supply, and what didn't your lender like about it? I have a shared water supply (shared between 6 properties from a hillside stream) and I had no problem getting a mortgage for it.0 -
If they have a consent order then he would have known the extent of the arrears/debt she had accumulated as part of the financial disclosure process.
" his divorce agreement also meant he contributed to this act on her part" seems to imply there is a consent order. If so I think you are being played.0
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