Seller lied on the SPIF form. Their solicitor won't communicate with me...HELP

poet123

Not particularly concerned with this case and a little OT(apologies)but my next door neighbour sold her house 9 months ago to the lovely couple who are now our neighbours......without telling them that her husband had hung himself from the bannisters 2 months prior to the sale.

They are clearly unaware of the situation as they have said they cannot believe what a bargain they got with the house,the reason being the previous owner just could not live there any longer.

TBH,we try to avoid any conversation with our new neighbours about the previous owners,but there have been a couple of near misses when they have asked a question, which, had I answered without leaving out specifics,could have opened a can of worms.

Some friends of ours know them (and the previous owners)and reckon they will be horrified when they eventually find out.

It will of course come out....so my question is ...is this covered by the disclosure form,and could the previous owner be liable for not telling the buyer?

loveandlight

poet123 - Actually I don't think sellers are under an obligation to disclose information like this. In the US I know they have to as the property is then considered blighted but if I am wrong about the UK, I am sure someone else will come along and say so.

Posted by AMILLIONDOLLARS
It's not the solicitors who are not responding, but the sellers of the flat!! The Solicitors have already found a way of this situation!!!!!!

Thanks for that AMD. That'll teach me to read more closely!

Becks045- Do see if you can get legal representation on your house insurance. Don't give up though. If you have to continue to pursue it alone and get stuck, you can always pm me and I'll do my best to help. I've got oodles of litigation experience. Good luck.

poppysarah

poet123 wrote: »

It will of course come out....so my question is ...is this covered by the disclosure form,and could the previous owner be liable for not telling the buyer?

Ea told me they like to know when someone has died (recently) in a property. They don't tell viewers though.

It doesn't affect the structure of the house or any value to that person unless they're very sensitive but then those that are should only live in new builds.

bobsaint

Hi,

Any movement on this recently?

What has been clear from my own dealings is that establishing the liability of the seller is nothing like as straightforward as some on this thread seem to believe ! There should be some resolution on the case I am dealing with in the next few weeks as there is a hearing shortly regarding the appeal against granting PP.

I will keep you informed.

neverdespairgirl

poppysarah wrote: »

Ea told me they like to know when someone has died (recently) in a property. They don't tell viewers though.

People die everywhere.

bobsaint

Any developments on this? The case I am dealing with has stalled !

Thanks

bobsaint

I am going to have one last go before accepting this thread has expired !

The first (and possibly main) problem in establishing liability would appear to be that this information is publicly available . Does anyone know whether this hurdle has ever been successfully overcome?

Thanks

PasturesNew

I found out somebody had hung themselves in my last house.
*shrugs*
It happens.
I didn't know him and didn't know the story around it.
He wasn't popping back and haunting me.

Becks045

Its still ongoing, as always takes ages.

The worse part is that the development opposite us, the developers have gone bankrupt so we now have lots of 5 storey concrete blocks in-front of us.

I doubt we will ever be able to sell with this uncertainty.

The sellers are hard to contact but I hope to pick this up properly in the new year.

poppysarah

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

People die everywhere.

They do. But it's bad taste not to remove the carpet his body left a mark on.

We veiwed with someone who'd worked as an undertaker and he pointed it out.