Buyer issued a list of complaints about house after sale completed!

JAS2015

After a bit of advice...I sold my house 3 weeks ago. The buyer only viewed the property once and was in and out in 20 mins. He offered just under the asking price straight away which I accepted.
Fast forward to 2 days ago when I received an email from my solicitor with a list of complaints forwarded from the buyer's solicitor from boiler not working (heating and hot water was working fine on the day I sold it), missing appliance brochures (all left in house) down to door bell not working!?? What? Again, it was when I left! The buyer wants me to cover costs!
I basically rang my solicitor and said everything was in perfect working order on day of completion so the answer was no, I wouldn't be paying. This was on Friday morning and I've not heard anything back yet. I know I sold the house in working order but basically its my word against his isn't it? What happens now?

HouseBuyer77

Unless they can prove you lied to them (provided false information on the property information form or responded to their questions in writing with false information) they don't have any recourse against you. House buying is very much buyer beware the onus is on them to satisfy themselves with the condition of the property before exchanging contracts.

What did you solicitor say?

Pixie5740

Assuming this is a property sale in England or Wales then the buyer can cry you a river. If he only wanted to spend 20 minutes viewing a property before paying out thousands that's his lookout.

However, if you are in Scotland then there are usually clauses in the sale giving buyers 5 workings days to flag up issues with central heating, boilers, etc.

JAS2015

Sorry, I didn't specify, house sale is in England.
My solicitor didn't say a great deal really. He's been a bit useless throughout if I'm honest! He said "I will go back and state everything was in working order on completion day so no costs will be accepted".

G_M

If Eng/Wales, then even if those items are not working the buyer has no comeback.

I would not even waste time replying.

Personally I think your solicitor is wrong to reply as he is. In effect he is admitting they should be working, and the dispute becomes one of : are they working or not?

The dispute (if there is one) should be : do they need to be working?

Once the buyer establishes they should be working whicj your solicitor's reply implies, he can start producing evidence (eg gas engineer's report) to show they are not working.

JAS2015

G_M wrote: »

If Eng/Wales, then even if those items are not working the buyer has no comeback.

I would not even waste time replying.

Personally I think your solicitor is wrong to reply as he is. In effect he is admitting they should be working, and the dispute becomes one of : are they working or not?

The dispute (if there is one) should be : do they need to be working?

Once the buyer establishes they should be working whicj your solicitor's reply implies, he can start producing evidence (eg gas engineer's report) to show they are not working.

I understand your point but surely I have admitted they WERE working on completion date, not that they SHOULD be working now? I have just been honest.

G_M

It's a subtle point and probobly not important, but that's why I would not have replied at all.

HappyMJ

JAS2015 wrote: »

After a bit of advice...I sold my house 3 weeks ago. The buyer only viewed the property once and was in and out in 20 mins. He offered just under the asking price straight away which I accepted.
Fast forward to 2 days ago when I received an email from my solicitor with a list of complaints forwarded from the buyer's solicitor from boiler not working (heating and hot water was working fine on the day I sold it), missing appliance brochures (all left in house) down to door bell not working!?? What? Again, it was when I left! The buyer wants me to cover costs!
I basically rang my solicitor and said everything was in perfect working order on day of completion so the answer was no, I wouldn't be paying. This was on Friday morning and I've not heard anything back yet. I know I sold the house in working order but basically its my word against his isn't it? What happens now?

Nothing substantial will happen. There'll be a few more letters written to and fro and that's about it. You leave the property in whatever state you want. There's no need for anything to be working. If buyer wants to make sure it's working before purchase then buyer should have checked before exchange of contracts.

phill99

Tell him to stick his complaints where the sun doesn't shine.

goodwithsaving

This made me laugh. There was LOADS wrong with our house when we moved in but I wasn't going to chase the vendor. All part and parcel of buying.
Tell him to stick it. You've completed anyway. The fact your solicitor is even considering the demands or responding surprises me.

ethank

You don't have to fix anything unless it was in the contract.