Seller lied on property questionaire - Electrical fire

cattermole

sean1989 wrote: »

heres how it all worked (in order but no timescale)

1) Bridgfords estate agents contact us about a house
2) we view and put in an offer
3) met with bridgfords mortgage advisor and everything set up through countrywide
4) countrywide are the conveyencers and have "in house" solicitors ( they trade as lawyers and conveyencers)
5) We fill in millions of pieces of paperwork
6) Pay the fees + deposit
7) More docs
8) move in
9) more docs
10) where we are now...

Not sure where nationwide came from? certainly nothing to do with me

Sorry my mistake I was thinking of something else it was the "wide"

So Countrywide are your lenders? NO they are the conveyancers/solicitors who is your LENDER?

Did Countrywide declare in their Contract information that they were paying the original Estate Agents Bridgfords a fee for introduction? Probably not because they are one of their "brands"!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countrywide

sean1989_2

cattermole wrote: »

Sorry my mistake I was thinking of something else it was the "wide"

So Countrywide are your lenders? NO they are the conveyancers/solicitors who is your LENDER?

Did Countrywide declare in their Contract information that they were paying the original Estate Agents Bridgfords a fee for introduction? Probably not because they are one of their "brands"!!

Estate agent: Bridgfords
Conveyencer: Countrywide
Solicitor: Countrywide
Lender: Santander

I do remember reading something about the lender paying a fee for us taking the mortgage to brdgfords but nothing else i recall

cattermole

Countrywide Solicitors are regulated by the CLC

http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/what-sra-about.page#sra-and-approved-regulators

Not sure whether this means they have to use Law Society Forms or not but the CLC has it's own body for compensation as well and they claim it is better! Strange they didn't mention this and only the Legal Ombudsman.

http://www.conveyancer.org.uk/Latest-news/2014/May/CLC-statement-in-Legal-Ombudsman-report-Complaints.aspx

Anyway I'm into an area I am not sure about on what forms they should or should not have used.

Perhaps you should read their handbook

http://www.conveyancer.org.uk/Handbook/Handbook.aspx

cattermole

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1252890/MARKET-WATCH-Is-estate-agent-taking-bribes-lawyer.html

Hate to use the daily snail but it appears they are cited as Conveyor belt Solicitors

sean1989_2

cattermole wrote: »

Countrywide Solicitors are regulated by the CLC

Not sure whether this means they have to use Law Society Forms or not but the CLC has it's own body for compensation as well and they claim it is better! Strange they didn't mention this and only the Legal Ombudsman.

Anyway I'm into an area I am not sure about on what forms they should or should not have used.

Perhaps you should read their handbook

Whilst i cant find anything on paperwork - i did find a code of practice...

Overriding Principle 1. Act with independence and integrity
Outcomes - you must deliver the following Outcomes:
1.1 Clients receive good quality independent information, representation and
advice;

Overriding Principle 2. Maintain high standards of work
Outcomes- you must deliver the following Outcomes:
2.1 Clients are provided with a high standard of legal services;
2.2 Client matters are dealt with using care, skill and diligence;
2.3 Appropriate arrangements, resources, procedures, skills and commitment
are in place to ensure Clients always receive a high standard of service.

Despite everyone saying i should have picked up on all these things - im sure this conduct makes sure the "conveyers and solicitors" do as well...

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm not part of "everyone saying you should have picked up on". I do think its important to ensure one has a decent level survey on a house. However, having done this, one would expect a surveyor to spot the signs of bad/outdated electrics in a house at least as fast as "yer average consumer in the street" is being expected to by many.

They are the ones who do looking at houses for a job after all and, though they cant/wont do a detailed electrical survey - then it is their job to point out things like "fuse box, rather than circuit breaker board - fuseboxes haven't been installed for over 30 years now. These days its circuit breaker boards"/"number of powerpoints is low or some of those sockets are not flush to the walls". There are various obvious little signs that a surveyor should spot and should comment on specifically.

.....and...yep...I've been let down in that respect myself by the surveyors on both my Starter House and Current House:cool:

Thankfully - the electrics in Current House weren't nearly as bad as those in your house (though I've had to spend rather more than I anticipated putting things right). I was sort of half-expecting outdated electrics - because the house itself was outdated when I bought it (ie stuff on ceilings/fireplace that was already 20 years out of date when the house was built/kitchen that's "this century" but was already 20 years out of date when installed aka bodged).

We should be able to rely on the answers on a legal form that constitutes part of the contract. What would the point of that form be otherwise? If the form was pointless - then might just as well rely only on what the vendor tells you verbally and hope you're good at spotting when they are lying.

Good luck - and keep us posted as to how it goes.

Jhoney_2

FTB's who may read this - Never rely - always have things checked by the appropriate professional!

Not aimed at anyone specific, but it's a simple as that.

I would not rely on a conveyancer for electrics/property condition any more than I would a roofer regarding a faulty boiler. It's not their specialism.

Surveyors of any description do not test electrics or gas appliances. They may give you an idea of general condition and or age, but in any event the boiler for example may not be on at the time of the survey so it could be rattling up a storm when fired up and in operation yet the surveyor would be unaware and thus unable to report on it.

Similarly where access is restricted e.g a loft to give you details regarding structural condition, leaks, rot, damp etc

Please do not let a few hundred pounds cost you thousands, stress as per OP or regret of purchase. It's not worth it and makes no financial sense whatsoever.

moneyistooshorttomention

That was one point at least that surveyor of Current House did comment on - he wasn't happy with the look of the boiler. That much was blindingly obvious even to consumer-in-the-street me and I was already mentally replacing that before I moved in. So - I would assume surveyors might be a bit "better at their job" re saying whats what with boilers.

sean1989_2

I would agree FTB just make sure you send in professionals on the electrics, gas and anything else that you thought hmmm

Had the home insurance surveyor attend and he said it looks pretty bad indeed however, when i said - ignore the burn marks and the smell of the burning and what does it look like?

He said "well looks ok to be honest"

Just goes to show that looks certainly are not everything!

The surveyor did however say this is probably a full rewire job looking at the damage.


We have an electrician now on their way to do a full electrical report - another £80.00 down

Jhoney_2

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

That was one point at least that surveyor of Current House did comment on - he wasn't happy with the look of the boiler. That much was blindingly obvious even to consumer-in-the-street me and I was already mentally replacing that before I moved in. So - I would assume surveyors might be a bit "better at their job" re saying whats what with boilers.

That's the point - it is NOT their job. The appropriate 'gas safe' engineer professional is the one who does that.