Buyer Of House Fails To Complete

steve2005

Got an interesting question that I cannot answer.

A friend if mine has put their house up for sale (in England) and accepted an offer. Contracts were exchanged and buyer paid a deposit.
It now looks like the buyer won't be able to complete for whatever reason - I didn't ask the reason but I know it's not to do with a chain.

What are the next steps for my friend? He 'kindly' allowed a 2 week extension for completion, based on interest being paid on outstanding amount at a rate which is much higher than his mortgage.

The 2 week extension expires on Tuesday, ie 4 days time.

What would normally happen in this instance?

Sadly I'm not knowledgable enough to give an answer.

TIA

Foxy-Stoat_3

I am sure your friend's solicitor will be better suited to answer the question. It will cost the buyer lots and lots of stirlings !!!

TheCyclingProgrammer

I'm no expert but I think next step would be for solicitor to send a formal notice to complete.

Why has the buyer failed to complete? If its because they do not have the funds and cannot secure a mortgage, then they are a bit stuffed - the buyer can be sued but not sure your friend can do much if they don't have the money.

If they've just changed their mind, the solicitors will sort it out or he will get sued for a lot of money.

PasturesNew

Here's a thread in progress, started on 11th January, with the same situation: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5150438

molerat

If this "2 weeks" is the formal notice to complete then he gets to keep the deposit for starters. Then he can sue for any losses, there is a case where they could not sell for another 2 years in a falling market and the buyer was held liable, in the high court after losing an appeal, for that fall in value as well. Mega £. Failing to complete is only for the terminally stupid !

G_M

Is your friend doing his own conveyancing? If so, it is time to employ a solicitor experienced in conveyancing AND litigation.

If he already has a conveyancer, ask him for advice/information!

The buyer can be forced by the courts to Complete, but if he literally does not have the money, no amount of court force will turn up £X00,000.

Alternative is to

1) keep the deposit and
2) sue for costs/losses/expences etc

steve2005

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes he has a solicitor doing everything for him - I think he's just asking me because it's after 5pm on a Friday - he's never been the most patient of people.

I'll tell him to speak to solicitor next week and see what they say - I'll let you know what the result is. From what I gather though there is no financial reason the buyers can't complete as he already has a few properties to his name.

Yes it was a formal notification extending it for 14 days from the 5th January.

steve2005

PasturesNew wrote: »

Here's a thread in progress, started on 11th January, with the same situation: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5150438

Oh jeez what a flipping nightmare!! Glad they got it sorted in the end.

stator

Well your friend will probably have to decide whether he still wants to force the sale of the house to this person and get compensation for costs, or whether he wants the buyer to pay a lump sum settlement and get out of the purchase (if the buyer realises the trouble he is. He doesn't have to agree to this). It may have to be settled in court
If the buyer is insolvent then it's best to just keep the deposit and cut your other losses and look for a new buyer.

moneyistooshorttomention

Crikey! So there's at least 2 "little darlings" out there who don't seem to realise that "contracts exchanged" means safely home and dry then.

I am astonished to realise there are 2 of these characters around I must admit and I think that fact is going to make many of the rest of us feel a little nervous.

What planet do these people live on, ie to get as far as Contracts Exchanged in apparent unawareness that that = "darn nearly done and dusted" and there cant be any problems from here on in (well...bar the walking into the house that has just been bought and realising just how big a liar the vendor was....:eek::o:eek:).

G_M

I've lost track of how many years I've been posting here. Many.

In all that time I've seen maybe 4-5 of these cases. It is just coincidence we've seen two within the last few weeks, but I don't think other buyers/sellers should panic and think this is a common occurance.....