purchase of property fell through - am i liable for costs

stevo1809

Hi


I have recently been handed a solicitors bill for work carried out on the purchase of a new property and the sale of my current property up until the date it all fell though and I want to know if I am liable for this bill as I don't feel I should be due to the reason below.


Everything was ready for completion apart from one document my solicitor was still waiting on from the developers solicitor, a road/sewage bond with NI water. I went back and forward for weeks, the developers solicitor saying they have an agreement in place and my solicitor saying they have not received any paperwork to confirm this, without this paperwork my lender "Tesco bank" would not release the funds for my solicitor to draw down.


My solicitor then contacted NI water himself to ask for this document only to be told that the agreement that was in place is no longer valid as it is in the name of a previous developer who has went bust. In order to validate this bond/agreement the new developer who bought over the site must enter into a new agreement with NI water. I have this in writing from NIwater.


The developers solicitor says that is not true and that the bond currently in place is valid even though I have confirmation from NIwater it isn't. As a result Tesco bank would not release the funds for me to buy this property so I lost out on this purchase, I also lost out on the sale of my house as I had no other house to move into so have had to stay put. To be honest the only reason I put my house up for sale in the 1st place was because I seen this house for sale and really wanted it.


My problem now is I have a solicitors bill for over £800 for work carried out up to the date it all fell through. My question is who is at fault for this whole issue and should the house even have been put on the market on the 1st place? I need to know as I don't feel I should pay this bill but I also know its not my solicitors fault so they do need paid but who should pay them?


Any help with this would be greatly appreciated as I am really stressed out by the whole issue especially so close to xmas now.


Thanks
Stephen

PasturesNew

Yes, you have to pay it. Your solicitor did their job. There is nobody liable for you to sue either.

Thrugelmir

The liability to pay is yours unfortunately. Difficult to see you recovering the money without incurring a considerable legal bill. With no guarantee of success either.

stator

Unless someone acted fraudulently or illegally you will have to pay all of your own solicitors costs. Even if they did act fraudulently, you would have to pay your solicitor and sue the other party to get money back. The other parties will also have to pay their own solicitors costs. It's a lose-lose-lose situation by the sound of it.

ACG

Some solicitors do no completion - no fee, but typically these charge a little more if the mortgage does complete.

wolfplayer

stevo1809 wrote: »

so I lost out on this purchase, I also lost out on the sale of my house as I had no other house to move into so have had to stay put.

Did you have a buyer in play, and if you pulled out of the sale to them, is it possible they lost monies/time as well?

stator

ACG wrote: »

Some solicitors do no completion - no fee, but typically these charge a little more if the mortgage does complete.

You can also buy a limited insurance policy against it from a company called Bespoke Finance if it falls through you get some costs back. But it's a bit late for this thread

stevo1809

My argument is that the development doesn't have a valid road/sewage bond. The means that anyone purchasing with loan (mortgage) isn't able to do so. Why is the developer allowed to advertise this house to people like me when its a sale that cannot complete?

I feel the Developer is responsible as they have caused both sales to fall through as they refuse to enter into a new agreement with NIwater even though I have it in writing from NIwater that the current agreement is no longer valid.

Yes the purchasers of my house will also be out of pocket but that is not down to me being untruthful or saying my house is fit for sale when it not like this developer did. Had this issue been advised to me by the estate agent at 1st contact I wouldn't not have made an offer and then not put my house up for sale either. I actually put an offer in before my house was even up for sale, my house was sale agreed within 3 days of going on the market so this all started because of the house I wanted to buy being advertised as fit for sale.

Bottom line the developer is trying to sell these houses to people who require mortgages knowing that without a "valid" agreement between himself and NIwater the sales cannot completed as all lenders require this documentation before they will release funds.

Brock_and_Roll

stevo1809 wrote: »

My argument is that the development doesn't have a valid road/sewage bond. The means that anyone purchasing with loan (mortgage) isn't able to do so. Why is the developer allowed to advertise this house to people like me when its a sale that cannot complete?

I feel the Developer is responsible as they have caused both sales to fall through as they refuse to enter into a new agreement with NIwater even though I have it in writing from NIwater that the current agreement is no longer valid.

Yes the purchasers of my house will also be out of pocket but that is not down to me being untruthful or saying my house is fit for sale when it not like this developer did. Had this issue been advised to me by the estate agent at 1st contact I wouldn't not have made an offer and then not put my house up for sale either. I actually put an offer in before my house was even up for sale, my house was sale agreed within 3 days of going on the market so this all started because of the house I wanted to buy being advertised as fit for sale.

Bottom line the developer is trying to sell these houses to people who require mortgages knowing that without a "valid" agreement between himself and NIwater the sales cannot completed as all lenders require this documentation before they will release funds.

Unfortunately even if you feel the fault lies elsewhere, your instructed the solicitor to do the work that was done therefore you are liable for the bill. Your recourse if you feel that there is fault is then to try and recover these costs by taking legal action against who you feel is at fault. I guess you could use the small claims court now known as MoneyClaimOnline to make a claim against the developer for misrepresentation. However, if he fights the case, the costs will soon escalate to silly levels.

stevo1809

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

Unfortunately even if you feel the fault lies elsewhere, your instructed the solicitor to do the work that was done therefore you are liable for the bill. Your recourse if you feel that there is fault is then to try and recover these costs by taking legal action against who you feel is at fault. I guess you could use the small claims court now known as MoneyClaimOnline to make a claim against the developer for misrepresentation. However, if he fights the case, the costs will soon escalate to silly levels.

That's all I was after, as I stated I am fully aware my solicitor needs paid as none of the fault lies with them. I just wanted to know what my options are as I am adamant the house should not have been made available for me to try and purchase given this bond issue.

TBagpuss

You don't have any evidence that he developer knew that the bond was invalid at the time they put the house up for sale or when they agreed the sale with you, so you have no reason to think that there was any misrepresentation.

They now know that NI Water does not consider the bond to be valid, so they now know that there is a dispute over the validity of the bond which will have to be resolved.

Unless you have evidence that the developer knew before advertising the house that the existing bond was invalid (and bear in mind, you currently have NI Water saying it isn't, and the developer saying it is, so you don;t have proof it is invalid, you have have proof that there is a dispute over its validity) then there is no evidence of wrongdoing by the developer.

It's frustrating for you and for your buyers but unfortunately you will have to pay your costs and you are not going to be able to claim this back from anyone else.