People still in house after getting keys

looknohands

Hi is this normal that people are still in my house after estate agents have released the keys and my mortgage company has paid them.

I don't want to be mean, but it seems a little weird, when is the house legally mine?
Or when is it reasonable to expect them to be out?

They were moving out as went round a few hours ago and noticed they were still there so just left them to it rather than saying anything and rushing them. I didn't want to rush them and they potentially damage anything.

dgtazzman

I believe if the people still being there causes you any costs, i.e. storage of your belongings, rebooking removal company, hotel costs, etc. they would be liable for these costs and you could make a claim against them for such...

Dan-Dan

you need to be outside , hurrying them up , you own the house and are responsible for it to your mortgage co and insurers

Assuming completion is today , they are taking the !!!!

PasturesNew

If you've been and they are actively moving out then that's pretty normal.

When the money's changed hands you get a call from the solicitor, as does the agent, who then releases the keys - but they might just have the set they held for viewings.

It happened to me. I got the keys from the agent by 11am, but the people had problems moving out and didn't actually leave until past 5pm.

While people'd like to be out pronto, sometimes things happen. They get let down by somebody, or the van that arrives is smaller, or, they actually are clueless as to the urgency of vacating.

If you want to "Do Something" - phone the Agent and ask them to give them a call to find out what the problem is.

HouseBuyer77

The house is legally yours at completion.

Generally this will happen late morning and it may take longer then that for the vendors to move all of their stuff out.

The thing to do is discuss plans with the vendor before completion day so you can work out when they expect to be out and object if they want to hang around for too long.

Too late for that now. Did you not talk to them at all when you went round?

davidmcn

Yes, it is normal that you need to allow them some time to move out. There needs to be a bit of give and take on moving day.

Guest101

looknohands wrote: »

Hi is this normal that people are still in my house after estate agents have released the keys and my mortgage company has paid them.

I don't want to be mean, but it seems a little weird, when is the house legally mine?
Or when is it reasonable to expect them to be out?

They were moving out as went round a few hours ago and noticed they were still there so just left them to it rather than saying anything and rushing them. I didn't want to rush them and they potentially damage anything.

The house is yours at some point on completion day.


Reasonably the money might be paid at 9am. How reasonable is it for them to be out by 8:59?


Go and speak to them. Say:


Hi, I'm ___ (if you've not met them before) or Hi, how you getting on (if you have met them)


Just wondering how long you need to move everything as I've got a van full myself.

looknohands

The money is already paid it was paid this morning.

We are in no hurry to move, and not losing out from them being there, we're not moving in for a week or so, hence me avoiding confrontation, i've never met them before and i'd prefer not to have to speak to deal with them.

It seems weird for this to happen, is it illegal, has the estate agent messed up?

pinkteapot

Normal, assuming they're packing up and leaving today.

Our last two purchases:

1. Got called at 11am to say completion had happened. Went to EA to pick up keys. No keys. Seller finished packing up and brought the keys to the EA at 4:30pm! Fortunately we were in rented and not moving in that day.

2. We were in the middle of a chain. Got called, again about 11am to say completion had happened. Left our old house about that time with our removal truck. Got to new house and the people were still loading their truck. They finished and left about 1:30pm and just gave us the keys, to save us both going to the EA's office.

Phone the EA and ask them to ring the vendor and find out when they'll be finished. You need to go round once they've left to read the meters (to get your opening meter readings for your new accounts).

PasturesNew

looknohands wrote: »

is it illegal, has the estate agent messed up?

No and no. But the agent should've told you "These are just our set of keys from the viewing, they've not handed theirs in yet".

A good agent should've given them a call about the keys and to check... but, that agent might, too, have a REAL disaster on their hands right that minute that they're dealing with.

In my case I was told they were giving me the viewing keys and that the sellers would put the keys through the front door as they finished moving out. They also phoned me a couple of times across the day to say "they need a bit more time", but I knew that as I spent most of the day parked up the road from where I could see the roof of their van.

goodwithsaving

Go and gee them along! The house is yours. If it burns down, it's yours. If any damage happens, it's yours. You don't specify so if you didn't complete today but yesterday, well.......that's different

(Sorry, I notice you do specify)