Estate agents fees & pulling out due to serious medical reasons

Prudent

I am looking for help on behalf of my Dad. My parents live in England and the buying & selling process there is different to Scotland.

My elderly parents were due to move house today. Last week my mum (who already has severe multiple disabilities) fell and fractured her hip. She had an operation on her hip which went okay. However she now has post operative delirium. She is mostly unaware of who close family are, does not remember the fall or the pending house move, she is very paranoid, distressed and at times violent. At this stage no-one seems to know what the prognosis is and whether she will recover.

The final documents had not been signed (not sure what they are called in England as I live in Scotland where they are called missives) and my dad's solicitor advised he postpone at present. My mum is not mentally aware enough to sign and there is no power of attorney in place. They own the house as tenants in common.

The contract with the estate agents says that if the agents find a buyer who is willing and able to buy then the fees are payable if the seller pulls out. My parents do not have a lot of money and the fees would have come from the sale. Does anyone know what the situation would be if medically they cannot move as my mum cannot sign the documents?

Ant help much appreciated.

Red-Squirrel_2

Don't rush into any decisions, this kind of delirium is normally very short lived. If she was completely 'with it' before the op then there's no reason to assume she won't return to her old self very soon in terms of her mental state.

Your solicitor is right to postpone and put everything on hold for a bit. I'm assuming that they are moving for a reason and that going through with the move would be the best result?

[Deleted User]

First of all, you mum has been through a lot of trauma, its not uncommon for older people to get confused after an illness or injury (plus hospital admission). Rarely does this remain permanently without signs of confusion being present before admission.

I hope she does get better. You'll probably see improvement quite quickly.

If you can't get the required signatures then you just can't. The purchase will have to be delayed. You don't have to stop it.., just delay it. And it would seem to me that there would be room to argue that the sellers aren't 'able' (referring to the buyers must be able clause) if one of the sellers is temporarily unable to sign, I would have thought a contract would not be seen to be fair and equitable law (i.e if buyers are defined as able surely the sellers should be too).., which I wonder if this contract is. Its not like the sellers are deliberately trying to mess the ea around.

Prudent

Thank you both

I think the medical concern is that she was a bit confused prior to the operation (she had been very ill in March). My dad is okay about postponing but doesn't know if he will be liable for his estate agents fees if the chain breaks down as a result. The move is to allow them to be nearer family for more support. However it involves moving hundreds of miles therefore is a big undertaking when my mum is so ill.

eddddy

In simple terms, with this kind of EA contract, if the seller pulls out the EA fees have to be paid. If the buyer pulls out no EA fees are payable.

This is rather unkind towards the buyers, but if you explain all the problems and uncertainty to the buyers, they may decide to pull out - and then no fees should be payable.

You might have to say something like this to the buyers "There will be a delay while my mum's hip gets better and we also need to investigate getting a power of attorney etc, etc, - we will fully understand if you choose to pull out of the purchase on this basis."

And maybe do it via the solicitor rather than the EA.

(As a more general point, if your parents ever think about selling again, tell theM to make sure the EA's contract is strictly "No Sale, No Fee".)

Prudent

Brilliant eddddy, thank you. The buyer has been quite jittery about the purchase anyway, so may welcome the chance to pull out. I will pass this information on to my dad.