New house just broken into between exchange and completion!

bpk101

Hi,

My partner and i are 2 days away from completing on our first home purchase after a torturous 3 month sale process.

I've just learnt that the (vacant) house has been broken into, the perpetrators arrested and any damage liable by us and our buildings insurance policy that we took out leading up to exchange.

The vendors solicitor's email to our solicitor reads:

"As your clients may have learned, there has been a break-in at the property. The perpetrators were attempting to let it. This is a scam which is becoming more prevalent. Happily the Police intervened and our clients Agents have had to have the locks changed again. However, any other damage will have to be the responsibility of the Buyers in accordance with the terms of the contract."

My solicitor can't offer any more advice other than for me to go and inspect any damage myself before we complete on Friday, the estate agents have claimed there is no damage other than the door locks... but we've had such a painful journey with them i just don't know what to believe!

Any advice greatly received :(

jjlandlord

Well if the perpetrators have luckily been arrested you now who to send the bill to as they are the liable party. Not sure they can pay, though.

If they were running a scam and attempting to let the property they probably did not damage it.

Best to have a look and to inform your insurance if there are substantial damage.

kathrynha

If you haven't completed yet, then surely it is still the vendors property so they are responsible for it being in sellable condition, which I would consider to mean intact and working locks and door and window frames.

mufi

I could well be wrong, but always believed a property must be in the same condition on completion as it was at the point of exchange. Clearly, in this case that is not so.

pinkteapot

On exchange, you become contractually bound to buy the property, even if it burns down before completion.

This is why it's a condition of all mortgages that you (as buyer) have to have buildings insurance in place from exchange.

OP - go round and see. If there's damage, claim on your buildings insurance. First thing is to make sure it's made secure.

bpk101

jjlandlord wrote: »

If they were running a scam and attempting to let the property they probably did not damage it.

According to the estate agents (who were terrible throughout and no someone i trust!) the only damage was to the locks, which they've now replaced. I've seen photos of the replacement locks which my solicitor emailed me just now and they look far from adequate!

And according to my solicitor we are liable for damage from day of exchange.

Where do we stand and what do we do? It's been such an unpleasant experience i'm almost ready to throw the towel in

bpk101

... things crossing my mind:

1) Contact police and get more info on the break-in and these 'arrests'. Time, day etc and what actually happened. Is this worth doing for peace of mind?

2) Ask agents for lock-smiths receipt to check work was done properly. As we are past exchange i'd assume those locks are ours and we're entitled to copy of the receipt?

3) Secure the house. Although we complete on Friday, we're not planning on moving into until all renovation work is complete (approx 12 weeks). How can we best protest ourselves from this happening again?

jbainbridge

bpk101 wrote: »

... things crossing my mind:

1) Contact police and get more info on the break-in and these 'arrests'. Time, day etc and what actually happened. Is this worth doing for peace of mind?

2) Ask agents for lock-smiths receipt to check work was done properly. As we are past exchange i'd assume those locks are ours and we're entitled to copy of the receipt?

3) Secure the house. Although we complete on Friday, we're not planning on moving into until all renovation work is complete (approx 12 weeks). How can we best protest ourselves from this happening again?

1 and 2 don't achieve anything. Take possession of the house and make it secure. Move on.

fishpond

The contracts have been signed, it is your house. So you are responsible

PasturesNew

I suspect there's no damage. They'll have broken in neatly as their scam is to take deposits from people to move in at some future date. They weren't there to rob, damage, rip out pipework etc - and they've been arrested.

The scam is to advertise a property to let - then show 5-10 people round it - and get £500-1000 "holding fee" off each of them ASAP and run off. Of course, those people would then turn up at some future point (their moving in date) to wait for him and to be given the keys - only he would have disappeared, so at that stage it becomes a police issue between the person standing at the door waiting and the policeman taking their statement.

Not nice.... but at least it wasn't "burglars".

All the best.

Mattygroves2

bpk101 wrote: »

... things crossing my mind:

1) Contact police and get more info on the break-in and these 'arrests'. Time, day etc and what actually happened. Is this worth doing for peace of mind?

2) Ask agents for lock-smiths receipt to check work was done properly. As we are past exchange i'd assume those locks are ours and we're entitled to copy of the receipt?

3) Secure the house. Although we complete on Friday, we're not planning on moving into until all renovation work is complete (approx 12 weeks). How can we best protest ourselves from this happening again?

You'll need the police crime number and the receipt for the work to be able to claim from your insurers so definitely do 1 and 2. Make sure the quality of the locks are sufficient for your building insurance.

In terms of securing it then when you complete you need to work out whether you need to put better locks on. You would have had to do this anyway even if there hadn't been a break in.

Also check your insurance as most policies have a limit to how long a property can be left unoccupied and they will need to be aware that building works are being done.