Can the seller hound us and threaten to pull out days before exchange?

Jcm1989

Help!,

We've had what's turned into a awful experience buying our first property (be forwarned it's a looooooooooong story)

Story goes like this,

We are ftb and found our house at the end of July, we already had a mortgage in principle so we put out offer in on August 1st and it was accepted, so we got all of our documents to our chosen solicitor within the next week. It was then a case of waiting , we were assured it would be quick, with neither us or the seller being in a chain (the house we are buying is a ex rental and currently empty).

Then It took the seller 3 and a half MONTHS! (1st big problem)To get their draft contract in, so the searches didn't actually start until November (they all came back no problem :T ) and the seller solicitors answered all the enquiries quite quickly etc, however at this point our mortgage in principle has since expired (it's mid to late November at this point) and the bank had to check our credit rating again before they would issue a mortgage offer.

This is where our 2nd big problem happened, (we originally went in with a 10% deposit, but Halifax advised we could go in with 5% on a 2 year fixed rate and review after 2 years, it seemed like a good deal and meant we still had a sizeable buffer just in case) but when we went to pay the fee for the offer to be issued Halifax all of a sudden turned around and said your credit rating has changed, we want a 15% deposit, which was way more than we had, We checked both of our ratings with several different agencies, and on every single one we had a good credit rating with no risks or missed payments, and it showed we haven't taken any finance out etc, all the reports were passed on to Halifax as proof to challenge their decision, (we also requested they send us copies of the information they hold on our credit rating but they refused to let us see it), Halifax responded with "we can't always see what has negatively affected a credit rating, however we feel it is a true reflection and we will not issue the mort offer with less than a 15% deposit " . At this point my husband and I not wanting to pay so much money on a banks say so, contacted the FOS who were unable to take on our complaint , but offer to submit a. complaint to the bank on our behalf, low and behold and a few short days after the FOS contact the Halifax, they suddenly issue our mortgage offer for the 10% deposit we originally approached them with (with no explanation as to why they were suddenly able to issue it)

We luckily work round the corner from our solicitor and ran and got the offer to them the next day (they already have everything else), and now we're currently waiting to hear back from the valuer regarding a Flying Freehold, but our solicitor expects to exchange on Friday, and complete in the new year as soon as their office is open again,

But now we're onto our 3rd big problem!, the seller is now kicking off, ever since problem with Halifax (which delayed us 16 days in total ) he's been accusing us of messing him about and threatening to put the house on the market to rent, as he can drawn up a lease and a tennant in by the next day, he then wanted us to rent the house until completion, but he wanted us to pay for 2 months rent upfront in cash!, and today he has contacted his estate agent and basically said the main reason he has been hounding her and by extension us several times a day is because he wants to use the money from the sale to buy flights to Australia!!!!!!

It's so frustrating as yes our problem with the bank cause a slight delay, but this would have been finished by now if he'd not taken more than 3 months to get a draft contract in!

I'm really sorry for the long story/rant, but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or been through anything similar with a seller? could he actually pull out and put it back on the market at this point?

We're first time buyers, andthe first of our friends/family to move from renting to buying, so we don't have anyone to ask advice of

Thank you!

[Deleted User]

Can the seller hound us and threaten to pull out days before exchange? - Yes, but they cannot dictate what your response is.

What you do of course is up to you, but seems to me as though you have been pretty reasonable.

stator

When Halifax turned you down you should have just found another bank, but that's beside the point.

Yes he can pull out at any point until exchange, as can you.
With regards to the messing about you just need to ignore it. Don't get your hopes up until you've exchanged.

JigglyPug

Sorry to hear your issue OP What a right bum your vendor is being!

Unfortunately until you have exchanged, the seller can do whatever he wants with regards to pulling out of the sale. It seems to me like he knows this, and is basically trying to get as much money out of you as he can because he knows you don't want to lose the house. Your actions at this point are completely up to you and there is no real 'right' or 'wrong' answer, but you can either give in to his demands just to get the exchange over and done with before Christmas, or call his bluff and hope he'll back down (but obviously there's also a chance he won't and will put the property on the market). If you go with the latter option, realistically you need to be willing to walk away from this property if he decides to put it back on the market.

Realistically, if your seller pulls out now he will be out the money he owes the solicitors and will likely have an empty house until he can get a new tenant in the New Year. So you may find he is simply trying his luck and won't actually do anything if you say no to his demands, but obviously that's still a risk.

It's a horrible situation to be in, I really feel for you OP best of luck with whatever you decide!

Jcm1989

Thanks for the replies everyone! , it's reassuring to get advice from people who have prior knowledge !


We first tried escalation within Halifax and went to the underwriters first, who said no, our adviser didn't agree and then escalated further to head office, who were the ones to basically advise they couldn't see what had changed the rating. Which is when we contacted the FOS who submitted our complaint,

I did at this point have another appointment sorted for a Tuesday afternoon with a different bank to start the process again, but we arrived home from work Monday evening to the mortgage offer (dated the same day FOS had submitted our complaint) so we decided to just get the offer docs to the solicitor ASAP,

I'll just have to keep telling the seller to be patient!, fingers crossed exchange goes off without anymore hitches!

Mossfarr

yes, the reality is, they can pull out at any time until exchange of contracts has taken place.
Having said that, I think its probably unlikely as they will also have incurred some costs - such as solicitors and estate agents fees. I doubt they would want to just kiss goodbye that money.
Just stay calm, you don't know what the EA has told them, they may be under the impression that you can't get a mortgage at all so are having a bit of a panic thinking its going to fall through.
With regards to their needing the money to pay for flights - thats ridiculous, they could pay for flights on an interest free credit card and just clear it when the sale completes! Its more likely that they just want everything done and dusted before they go to Australia.

Cakeguts

Well if the seller pulls out now he certainly won't be getting the money to pay for his flights to Australia. On this basis I think the Australia bit is not relevant. Buying a house takes as long as it takes. Until you exchange contracts either side can withdraw from the sale. What is holding it up now is the information about the flying freehold. If this comes back and there is a serious problem you would still be able to withdraw from the sale without any penalties. The only thing you can do in this situation is wait until you and your solicitor are happy with all the information provided. There are lots of sales that don't make it to completion. It is just one of the aspects of buying a house.

glasgowdan

Don't carry out any of these odd requests for peat sake. Absolutely don't rent the house, and don't respond to him any more. Not even through the solicitor. Being contacted so often is out of line.

Hoploz

This is one for the estate agent to deal with. They should at this point be doing their best to smooth everything over as everyone wants it to go through ASAP. hopefully you're not in touch directly with the seller, keep it that way - this is exactly how I had my chain break once - keep it all with the EA in between, keep your head down and cross your fingers to exchange as soon as poss. Good luck, sure it'll be fine.

Jcm1989

Thanks everyone,

We only receive/make contact through the EA , who is lovely and completely understands where we are at in the process and has been advising the seller that we've done all we can and he will have to wait to hear from the solicitors, but he still contacts every day and asks the messages to be passed on to us etc

Nearly all the message I've receive from the EA now start with an apology and then the latest complaint and hints to rent, or threats of pulling out from the seller etc

I'm thinking of emailing the EA tomorrow to say we won't respond to any more of his messages until we've heard from the solicitors

kinger101

I suspect the EA has told them they're being an idiot, and that they're still paying fees if they pull out from the sale. Stand your ground. Make sure it's them that withdraws from the sale and not you (if it does come to that).