Agreed Contents Damaged/Missing Advice

ghost3h

When buying my house, in the agreed contents and fittings form it was said that they would leave the built in fridge freezer as well as other it items.

They took a bunch of the items that are on the form, but left the fridge freezer. However this is broken. I went back to my solicitor on this, who went back to the sellers solicitor regarding the missing items. However he said

"As to the built in fridge freezer, as the item was left, but is not in working order, this is a different situation; conveyancing works on the premise of ‘buyer beware’ and it is therefore the assumption that the incoming purchaser has checked the property and is happy with its contents and condition. As the Seller has made no express guarantee that the fridge was in good working order, there is unfortunately little that can be done"

On my last viewing of the property before completion the fridge freezer worked, and I wasn't given a option to view this at completion. Is my solicitor right in this, as I am now left with having to buy a new fridge freezer, as well as having hazardous waste to dispose of!

Also the sellers solicitor has come back and said some of the items listed in the contents and fittings where not at the property when I inspected it, and where from a old inventory list. But they were there when I viewed the property. My solicitor doesn't seem that bothered to help much atm, as we have completed now and I am have them.

Any advice on resolving these?

Kyle

anselld

If it was working at exchange it should be working at completion.
If it was on the F&F form it should be present at completion.

The problems in both cases are..
(a) Proof
(b) The cost of enforcing the contract which will probably outweigh the value of items.

I imagine you solicitor is disinterested because s/he knows it is futile to pursue.

AdrianC

What's the "hazardous waste" that you've got to dispose of?
What WAS on the PIF but didn't get left?

The freezer did not really need to be explicitly on the PIF - as it was built-in, the assumption under the usual rule of thumb of "Pick the house up, turn it upside down and shake - what's still in place?" was that it was included. If you can demonstrate it was working on exchange, but not on completion, then there's the possibility that you could theoretically claim the value of a second-hand freezer from them.

ghost3h

There was a 2 month period between exchange and completion, in which tenants where living. So the fridge freezer was working at this point. How would I go about demonstrating these where working / not working at different times?

Looking online, fridge freezers are classed as Hazardous waste now. I wouldn't be able to dispose of these are my local tip (there is even a sign there saying this)

The items not where where:
Dining table and chairs
Microwave
Tumble Dryer


They are arranging to return the dining table and chairs, but are claiming the microwave and tumble dryer where not present at inspection.

Thanks

missprice

ghost3h wrote: »

There was a 2 month period between exchange and completion, in which tenants where living. So the fridge freezer was working at this point. How would I go about demonstrating these where working / not working at different times?

Looking online, fridge freezers are classed as Hazardous waste now. I wouldn't be able to dispose of these are my local tip (there is even a sign there saying this)

The items not where where:
Dining table and chairs
Microwave
Tumble Dryer


They are arranging to return the dining table and chairs, but are claiming the microwave and tumble dryer where not present at inspection.

Thanks

I don't know how you prove something was/was not working sorry.
A microwave can be bought for £30 or less in a supermarket, a dryer (depending on size) £100.
Costs of letters sent to previous owners by solicitors ££££
Although it irks, sometimes the easiest and least stressful thing is to go buy replacements.

AdrianC

You exchanged with tenants still in residence...?!?

The supplier of your new freezer will take the old one away for a nominal sum. Co-op electrical charge £25, AO charge £20. Since the expectation is that a built-in freezer would remain in situ, that's not the vendor's problem, but you could claim for the cost of a replacement, if you can show it was working at exchange.

As for the other items, "present at inspection"? Inspection is irrelevant. If they were listed on the PIF, they should have been left. You are owed the value of a second-hand microwave and drier. Feel free to launch a small claim for £50 or so for the pair. or perhaps you could even call it £100 and include the freezer - the vendor may even be able to reclaim the £50 for that from their tenants...

Or give yourself a slap for being so petty, and get on with life. Your call.

mjs0510

I have to agree with many of the comments that it probably isn't worth the hassle for the sums involved, but the flip side of that is that it makes a mockery of the legal process attached to dealing with fixtures and fittings.

Whats the point if sellers can do what they like and there's no real comeback

ReadingTim

If you think a qualified legal professional is wrong and randoms off the internet are right, you are not actually looking for an answer, you're merely looking for someone to say what you want to hear.

The answer is as your solicitor has set out - there is no way that it will be "resolved" in the way you want. You can learn this the hard and expensive way via solicitors, or for nothing via this forum. Your call.

Cakeguts

Personally if this was me I would just take the vendors to the small claims court for the cost of the items. They will have to learn at some time in their lives that legal documents have to be filled in correctly. So if they didn't intend to leave the items they should not have included them in the sale. If they did include them in the sale and they no longer had them then it was up to them to replace them.

The sale contract says that you have paid for these items.