Fixtures and fittings form - vendor breach of contract, next steps?

Bossworld

I'll try and keep this short.

Moved in last month after a long and protracted purchase, elderly vendor was uncommunicative throughout and some rather odd behaviour and comments via solicitors. Ended up exchanging on the 7th and moving in on the 9th.

The fixtures and fittings form stated that:
* The fridge, washing machine and dishwasher were included
* The form also states 'fittings will be replaced with ceiling rose...' which isn't the case for a wall lamp in the lounge which has been left as dangling flex.
* 14.4 of the TA6 form states that 'all rubbish is removed.../the property left in a clean and tidy condition' ticked Yes,

in the process of them removing the white goods, the cold water valve for the washer had been turned off, but was leaking and worn, leaving a pool of water on the floor which I had to cap off temporarily. The socket beneath the gap for the washing machine does not work and there was a section of 3 core flex literally just cut off and not terminated properly, which I've had to rewire from another spur.

We've also been left behind a loft full of old junk items, along with a selection rather out of date food in the kitchen (talking 10 years plus).

The entire house hadn't been cleaned and was grimey to say the least.

Finally, and worst of all in my view, about a week and a half before we finally moved in, we received a call via the solicitor advising that he'd never heard this before, but the house 'comes with a cat'. A handful of days before the move, we received another call via the vendor's friend advising that the cat would be outside the back door at 6am for his food. The vendor left circa. 20 tins/pouches of food behind. We had heard various stories about this cat up to this point (about it being a stray that he fed). From speaking to the next door neighbours after we moved in, it transpired it was about 18 years old, had been his wife's while alive, and quite clearly wasn't a stray. We had to arrange via the Dog and Cat Shelter to take it in to be rehomed which was upsetting to say the least.

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So, I emailed our solicitor on the 9th, they replied on the 12th, and we finally received a reply from the vendor's solicitors (from his son) on the 21st, stating that the removal of the goods had been a mistake, and offered to arrange with the storage company to redeliver them (no mention of reconnection). Also mentioned an offer of £100 'to assist with the cost of property clearance.'

Needless to say, I hit the roof - we're a family of three (with a 2 year old) and to expect us to go nearly a fortnight without a washing machine or a fridge is unacceptable. Due to their own lack of communication, I purchased a new washing machine (and bought a dishwasher at the same time) on the 15th as we couldn't wait any longer. Luckily we'd kept our old fridge, but I haven't mentioned that. There is also at least two skips' worth of clutter left behind, so £100 wouldn't go near covering it.

I emailed back explaining that:

* I had let our old appliances go to our buyers at a much-reduced rate assuming the details on the fixtures and fitting form were accurate, otherwise I'd have kept ours.
* That the state of the house (wiring left bare, the old food, and the lack of cleaning) was unacceptable and I wouldn't dream of doing the same to anyone else. (I know the junk and cleaning are probably par for the course, but just want to check).
* I requested £500 to resolve the matter, assuming a fair market value of £100 for each appliance, and £200 towards the cost of skip hire.

So, the reason for the thread. Come Monday, it will be a month since we moved in, and I've heard nothing since my last email back, which the solicitor edited as appropriate and sent to the vendor's solicitors. I didn't even mention the cat as between myself and my partner we were rather upset at his situation.

I'm going to call our solicitors back on Monday morning but to be honest, it's no longer their problem is it?

So, does the fixture and fitting form have any legal consequences (via the small claims court) ? And, by declining the original offer (return of the white goods (no mention of reconnection) and £100 towards clearing up), am I now in a position where I've no come back?

Many thanks for any advice.

Doozergirl

How much does a litigation solicitor cost for an hour?

If you think what you're faced with is bad, we spent £5000 on skips removing the stuff that a hoarder left behind, let alone the labour removing it all. We sent 25 full black bags of brand new unopened clothing to charity and that was the tip of the iceberg. Welcome to home ownership.

We got a settlement of £3000 because it wasn't worth the litigator's time. I'm not sure £500 is worth anyone's time. It will be standard practice to ignore letters like yours - we even tell people to ignore them on the board!

MissTasmanian

Gosh, I think £500 is being extremely reasonable in the circumstances! I'd go straight to sending them a letter before action as I doubt either solicitor is interested at this point.

marksoton

Is it really worth the aggro? Really?

Bossworld

I wasn't going for top trumps, and I appreciate you feel you've had a shittier hand dealt. In our circumstances, we've handed over nearly a quarter of a million pounds; if it were me, I'd have given the £500 back and think I'd got away lightly. I suspect exactly as you've said (that the solicitors will have advised them to ignore it and see what I do next).

I have tried to keep it brief but two skips is probably a gross underestimation, I've not attempted to move the things down from the loft yet but I took 12 black bin bags to the tip last week.

If it did go down the legal route, if possible I'd be pursuing the cost of the replacement white goods (rather than just the token resale value mentioned above) in addition to the cost of clearing out. The main purpose of the post was to ask if the vendor returning the goods fulfilled their obligation or whether they had any obligation towards the cost of clearing the house as per the signed TA form. Had they replied within a few days, I'd have had the option to just take the goods back and had done with it but that didn't happen.

I do agree to some extent that life's too short, but we're rather short of cash following the move and I guess it's a balanced risk.

Does the modern-day equivalent of the small claims court not apply in this cirumstance then? I thought that way round I would at least avoid hundreds of pounds of solicitor's fees?

Failing everything else, I do not have any forwarding details for the vendor or his son, however, they do appear to have accidentally left a post-it with his son and daughter in law's mobile numbers on. Is there any obligation on either solicitor to obtain and pass on the forwarding details?

Otherwise if it's all a lost cause it'll probably be a one-way rant down the phone number to get it off my chest.

Cheers

walwyn1978

Are you paying your solicitor for his letters/time? If so, be aware that very quickly the amount you spend will go past what you're asking for in compensation.

Re: dirt and mess, there's nothing you can do about that.

Re: damage and things not left when they were agreed, you would have joy with that if you did continue the legal route, but see my first sentence.

marksoton

Bossworld wrote: »

If it did go down the legal route, if possible I'd be pursuing the cost of the replacement white goods (rather than just the token resale value mentioned above) in addition to the cost of clearing out.

Not going to happen.

Bossworld

The senior assistant passed on the email I wrote, which as far as I'm aware was done on good will at the end of the conveyancing process.

I possibly do need to contact them anyway as barring the completion statement I never received any further correspondence beyond a letter stating they would forward details of the registered title.

Fully appreciate it's not worth the cost to go through a court via a solicitor, so was just wondering what the small claims track involved in terms of cost or risk.

anselld

Bossworld wrote: »

The senior assistant passed on the email I wrote, which as far as I'm aware was done on good will at the end of the conveyancing process.

I possibly do need to contact them anyway as barring the completion statement I never received any further correspondence beyond a letter stating they would forward details of the registered title.

Fully appreciate it's not worth the cost to go through a court via a solicitor, so was just wondering what the small claims track involved in terms of cost or risk.

I remember a thread recently in a similar situation where one respondent had been successful in claiming the cost of a skip. (can't find it now)

You can forget "replacement cost" of white goods. You were deprived of a few second hand appliances and any claim would compensate you only for that loss. i.e. second hand value £50-£60 per.

You can forget compensation for "stress", "inconvenience", etc.

You can probably forget cleaning as it would be difficult to quantify and it is an inevitable requirement when you move into a new property anyway.

So if you can be bothered for claim circa £350 then go for small claims, but probably not worth the hassle. You should probably have accepted the first offer.

Sambella

In my last house I was left a loft and a garage full of stuff.

I went through it all to see if there was anything I could sell on the Bay.

I was mightily surprised. If anyone remembers the old green back and purple back football cards that came with comics well, much to my shock I got almost £380 for those ( I had several hundred of them) Seems some folk collect anything. Jam jar lids with footballers on them sold for about £30.

In the garage there were king of the road car/bike mirrors, Morris minor bubble light caps, other car mirrors and tools also some old comics.

In total I got around £900 and it was a fun few weeks selling them.

I still had plenty left to fill a fair few skips though.

Bossworld

anselld wrote: »

I remember a thread recently in a similar situation where one respondent had been successful in claiming the cost of a skip. (can't find it now)

You can forget "replacement cost" of white goods. You were deprived of a few second hand appliances and any claim would compensate you only for that loss. i.e. second hand value £50-£60 per.

You can forget compensation for "stress", "inconvenience", etc.

You can probably forget cleaning as it would be difficult to quantify and it is an inevitable requirement when you move into a new property anyway.

So if you can be bothered for claim circa £350 then go for small claims, but probably not worth the hassle. You should probably have accepted the first offer.

Had the offer been made in a timely manner then I probably wouldn't have gone any further, however, it has felt as though the entire process of us handing over a significant amount of money and boosting the son's soon-to-be inheritance has been something of an inconvenience to them, let alone the stress they put us and our buyers through - I know there is no monetary value I can attach to emotions but to leave the cat behind was an absolute !!!!ish act.

I had no other option as the clothes were mounting up, we've moved away from where we used to live and I've not got the time after work (I work 8-6 and now have a longer commute) to be going to a launderette; I don't feel I've unreasonable. The return of the goods is no longer viable - it would have been a workable solution had they been back with me within a week of moving in, hence I waited as long as I could before ordering new ones (I did contact the solicitor before purchasing the new ones, to see if they'd had any reply).

Thank you for confirming the second hand aspect - as per my original email to the solicitors I mentioned fair market value rather than expecting them to pay the full value for replacements, I just wanted to know more about how the legal side of everything works as this is only the second house I've bought (and hopefully the last).

Seems !!!!! to a buyer (and even more so to the poster further up) that a vendor can realistically get away with doing whatever they want despite signings forms to the contrary but hey-ho.

If I can ask one more question, if I went down the small claims route, what is the maximum cost that I would bear should I lose? And does the vendor have to present their side of the case in person (they've moved 200 miles away)... :A