Not completing agreements in missives

Sporticus123

My father and his wife have just recently sold their second home as hes now retired.
The flat was bought 11 years ago but during the recent sale, the survey brought up that the building (block of 4 flats) is A listed and the windows are not original to the property and as a condition of sale these would be replaced inside 1 year.
This is in the missives which my father and wife have signed and the sale went ahead.
Now it seems the costs of having the windows replaced are far greater than expected and they simply dont have the funds to complete the work done. The sale of the flat barely covered the outstanding mortgage they owed.
I understand they can be sued by the new owners if they dont fulfil the conditions in the missives. But what happens after that if they dont have them money to pay?

They live in Scotland so they cant be forced to sell their current home to release the equity.

Arleen

Letters, ccj, bailifs, frozen bank accounts, garnished wages and all the fun when enforcement happens: https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/enforce-a-judgment. They may, and most likely will, be sued for more than replacement of windows will cost, at the very least the court costs.
it's best they reach out before the date strikes and inform them that they can't pay it on time and figure something out. Sooner you do that, the more understanding people can be.

Sporticus123

They are in Scotland and are retired so bailiffs and wage arrestments are not applicable in their case

beecher2

Sounds really strange, the solicitor who completed the missives should surely be able to give them some advice?

Sporticus123

Ive tried to get him to phone them, or seek advice but they are both really upset by the amount it looks like costing theyve made themselves unwell. My father isnt eating and on anti depressants because of this.
The building is A listed so the mortgage they got 11 years ago should never have been approved with these windows in it.
The bill looks like being £30k

Sporticus123

The chimney has also to be repaired. An architect has to be employed so the roof is put back to its original as well.

Arleen

Sporticus123 wrote: »

They are in Scotland and are retired so bailiffs and wage arrestments are not applicable in their case

Well, if they don't have any assets or income then there is no money to extract from them. Can't squeeze water out of a rock as they say. But this still will be very stressfull to deal with, and if the current solicitior won't be able to help, maybe seek a different one?

Sporticus123

The house they live in is bought and paid for but I believe under Scots law this cannot be sold from under them to cover the debt.
Also, there is not a specific figure as no work has been undertaken yet but quotes are in the £30k area so its all guess work at the minute but what if they have £20k in their account, the court say they are liable to cover the cost of work but the bill comes to £30k ?

Arleen

Then the people owed could collect the 20k, and still be owed 10k, in that situation where it went to courts.

And while I understand that they have a house, and in Scotland that is untouchable, don't they have other assets, like cars, jewellery? Those could potentially be taken to be sold.

davidmcn

What exactly does the clause say? From what you've said it sounds like their sale has completed, but they are required to pay whatever their buyers spend on replacing the windows, is that right? If it's an open-ended obligation then it sounds like they've been badly advised (and it doesn't even sound very useful from the buyers' point of view if they don't have the money!). Would have been simpler just to agree a discount on the price.

I also find it hard to understand how someone can own an A-listed property for 11 years without suspecting it might be listed. But probably too late to unravel whatever happened at the time they bought.

As for debt recovery, one option for the creditors if they can't extract enough cash now is to register Letters of Inhibition, which means they'll get first bite whenever the other property is sold.

Sporticus123

The missives basically that 10k has been held back by the buyers until my father pays to have the windows changed. He has a year to do so. If they arent changed then he is still liable and the buyers keep the 10k