An undertaking

Tootling

So, at the very end of the chain we are being held up by some "undertaking" thing. And i don't understand it so wondering if anyone could enlighten me?

The second to last people in the chain who i will refer to as !!!!!! because they are.

The !!!!!! lender won't let then break the chain for some reason. According to the estate agent this is not unheard of. The !!!!!! had been saying they were going to break the chain right up to the least moment when suddenly they found out they weren't able.

They are buying some place with a leasehold.

Their lender's solicitor has requested an undertaking that some documents will be signed on completion or something like that.

The !!!!!! solicitor sent the lender's solicitor this undertaking thing. Only the lender's solicitor rejected it due to the wording.

Now today the !!!!!!'s solicitor has refused to reword the undertaking thing.

Why? I think it has got something to do with the freeholder's solicitor. I can't remember now I'm too upset about this to even think.

Every bloody week something happens that pages it all backwards. Every week we think ah look week be ready to exchange next week and then this happens. Something goes wrong.

They magically can't break the chain, now this.

And we can't hang on like this forever as we did our house and moved in to a rented room basically which we can't have for that much longer.

I bloody hate those !!!!!!, mainly for lying because there is NO way they could have gone into their purchase of their next house without knowing. And it was so convenient that this didn't come to light until the very last minute and only when the EA tracked them down and asked them directly rather than going through their EA as he's been doing so before.

And so bloody typical of them to have gone for some dumb house. I basically hate them for breathing at the moment.

We are now looking for more long term rental properties but that means potentially getting tired into a long contact and we can't afford to buy a house and pay up x worth of rental so this whole thing feels like falling apart at the seams.

Alright at the rate this is going it might take 6 more months.

There are two properties in the chain between us and !!!!!!. The house we are buying and another.

We are hoping that one of them will just break the damned chain themselves.

So err... what is this undertaking thing, what might it be and why won't that dashed solicitor just reword it? Or is it too vague to really say? I just don't understand why this thing has cropped up last moment.

G_M

This is all so vague, and the informtion so unreliable. It's too far removed and based on "He said...." but "She said....".

You cannot know the truth of what is happening up the chain.
You'll probably never know.
Either it will resolve, suddenly, and you'll all Exchange, or the chain will collapse and you'll have to wait for it to be re-established, or find a new buyer.

All you can do is be patiant.

Tootling

Patience is running... Well it's run out. Any idea where we can find some more?

Everything just feels like we get right up to the moment where everything is coming together... And then no. Actually it's worse than before. One step that's and about five back.

The EA who is the EA of the house we are buying, is trying to find out some more info.

It just feels to me that some people just aren't willing to do what it takes because they just want to sit about in their armchairs. Fine if you have one!

G_M

Tootling wrote: »

Patience is running... Well it's run out. Any idea where we can find some more?
Sure. I have some for sale. PM me!

The EA who is the EA of the house we are buying, is trying to find out some more info.

It just feels to me that some people just aren't willing to do what it takes because they just want to sit about in their armchairs. Fine if you have one!

Again - you are jumping to conclusions.

The individual in question may be tearing their hair out in frustration because of their mortgage lender.

Their daughter may be seriously ill in hospital, diverting their attention away. (and they may not wish to share this information).

An unexpeted legal issue may have arisen.

You have absoluly no idea.

And even if the EA comes back tomorrow with an explanation, that too may be a load of twoddle - because the individual may have toold him a load of twoddle.


A I said. Youu will never know the truth.

Tiglet2

Just letting you know - an Undertaking is a solicitor's "promise" to pay/provide/deal with something on completion. A solicitor will not give an Undertaking unless they can guarantee that they will do whatever the promise was to assist the transaction. It might be confirming that the credit card will be cleared by the seller on completion, or that they will assist in the buyer's application for registration at Land Registry. Whatever it happens to be, it is certainly not something you have any control over. You may as well stop stressing about it because there is nothing you can do and no amount of threats or stomping of feet will make any difference.
Are you the first time buyer in the chain?

AdrianC

Tootling wrote: »

The second to last people in the chain who i will refer to as !!!!!! because they are.

And already we're setting expectations and pointing fingers.

The !!!!!! lender won't let then break the chain for some reason.

Which way?

Sell their old property, but not buy the new one? Apart from "Where would they live?", there's little reason a lender should worry there.


Buy the new property, but not sell the old one? Now, who can possibly think of a reason why a lender might not be totally happy with doubling their lending...?

They are buying some place with a leasehold.

Their lender's solicitor has requested an undertaking that some documents will be signed on completion or something like that.

Hold on a minute. I know my crystal ball's somewhere around.



Well, what could possibly go wrong with a solicitor signing a legal promise that some documents might be signed at some point in the future. Is this relating to the lease? Extension? Perhaps the lease is unmortgageably short, and the vendor's promising faithfully to pay the renewal fee from the money released on completion? Perhaps there's a less-than-tame Wildebeest in the garden shed that's going to be returned to the zoo by the removal people?

The !!!!!! solicitor sent the lender's solicitor this undertaking thing. Only the lender's solicitor rejected it due to the wording.

How very dare a solicitor refuse to sign something because the wording isn't right.

Now today the !!!!!!'s solicitor has refused to reword the undertaking thing.


Why? I think it has got something to do with the freeholder's solicitor. I can't remember now I'm too upset about this to even think.

So instead you'll just assume and finger-point down your predetermined conclusions.

So err... what is this undertaking thing, what might it be and why won't that dashed solicitor just reword it? Or is it too vague to really say?

Seriously?

pelirocco

Tootling wrote: »

So, at the very end of the chain we are being held up by some "undertaking" thing. And i don't understand it so wondering if anyone could enlighten me?

The second to last people in the chain who i will refer to as !!!!!! because they are.

The !!!!!! lender won't let then break the chain for some reason. According to the estate agent this is not unheard of. The !!!!!! had been saying they were going to break the chain right up to the least moment when suddenly they found out they weren't able.

They are buying some place with a leasehold.

Their lender's solicitor has requested an undertaking that some documents will be signed on completion or something like that.

The !!!!!! solicitor sent the lender's solicitor this undertaking thing. Only the lender's solicitor rejected it due to the wording.

Now today the !!!!!!'s solicitor has refused to reword the undertaking thing.

Why? I think it has got something to do with the freeholder's solicitor. I can't remember now I'm too upset about this to even think.

Every bloody week something happens that pages it all backwards. Every week we think ah look week be ready to exchange next week and then this happens. Something goes wrong.

They magically can't break the chain, now this.

And we can't hang on like this forever as we did our house and moved in to a rented room basically which we can't have for that much longer.

I bloody hate those !!!!!!, mainly for lying because there is NO way they could have gone into their purchase of their next house without knowing. And it was so convenient that this didn't come to light until the very last minute and only when the EA tracked them down and asked them directly rather than going through their EA as he's been doing so before.

And so bloody typical of them to have gone for some dumb house. I basically hate them for breathing at the moment.

We are now looking for more long term rental properties but that means potentially getting tired into a long contact and we can't afford to buy a house and pay up x worth of rental so this whole thing feels like falling apart at the seams.

Alright at the rate this is going it might take 6 more months.

There are two properties in the chain between us and !!!!!!. The house we are buying and another.

We are hoping that one of them will just break the damned chain themselves.

So err... what is this undertaking thing, what might it be and why won't that dashed solicitor just reword it? Or is it too vague to really say? I just don't understand why this thing has cropped up last moment.

You dont understand what an undertaking is , so you refer to them !!!!!! ! I suspect the others in the chain may just have a few choice names for you

AnotherJoe

Tootling wrote: »

I can't remember now I'm too upset about this to even think.
.

The only thing in your rant that is understandable.

Smodlet

:snow_laug:snow_grin:snow_laug:snow_grin:snow_laug

paddy's_mum

Although at this point you are too wound up to see it, that solicitor is actually doing something that may turn out to be giving you a degree of protection too, somewhere much further down the line.

I assume that you don't want to find twenty years from now and many thousands of pounds paid out in mortgage etc that some glitch that the solicitor over-ruled, which failed to protect his "%^&*" clients, has led to an unsolveable problem with the lease, exorbitant maintenance/repair costs to which you are legally obliged to contribute, an incomplete Land Registry entry, uncertainty over true ownership, an unresolved boundary dispute..etc, etc.

Concentrate on cultivating patience, take a walk in the park each evening, anything that takes the sting out of your current frustration.

Hating, by the way, hurts the hater far, far more than the hated! Good luck.

Tootling

I understand why an undertaking is basically, but not the circumstances that would require one.

I'm not angry at them about that, just the fact they lied up until the last minute about going into rental/family as they had said they would right up to the last minute.

We broke our chain without issue but we also asked if it would be possible before making any such suggestion to our buyers.

They have peed everyone else off thanks to this lie. I don't see how they could have not known. We had for weeks ago been aiming to exchange on x and complete on y and would have met that had it not been for their sudden revelation a day or two before everyone was set to exchange. The last bits and bobs were completed everyone basically thought they'd be exchanging on the day, or one or two days after, had no reason not to believe.

This undertaking issue is just the anti-icing on the cake. The last straw as everyone has got fed up and all up and down the chain are threatening to pull out. Likely a bluff from them but for us it is more that we can't stay in temporary lodging for much longer. Had they told the truth earlier we might have tried to find something a little more secure and better for us. And thus this stress could have been avoided. In fact i remember asking before we broke our chain (which i don't regret doing, or buyers wouldn't have stuck around for this long and due to moving slightly further afield and it having taken us ages to sell our house it was more important for us to complete our sale) if these people were definitely without a doubt going to break their chain as promised. They said they were (perhaps through chinese whispers). Either way they had an opportunity to come clean.

They had dropped one house they were buying at the last minute and then i think about a month before planned exchange got into another purchase, whilst still promising the same thing, to move into rental or with family. And you know i get that and all but they could have just said that due to this they might be unable to break the chain.

I guess maybe their lender won't let them break their chain if they are porting their mortgage across rather than going with a new lender. Which we had to do with ours for various reasons.

Anyway that's confusing my question, i should have kept it to the point...

Under what circumstances would you need an undertaking? As i said up earlier (never managed the art of keeping things short) it isn't this thing that has peed me off so much. Apart from its just one more thing.

I know there isn't much we can do in these circumstances. But I'd like to understand the whys and wherefores for sanity's sake. Perhaps to understand this standstill. But i guess without more detail i might never know.

If the solicitor is unwilling to reword the undertaking (and in not questioning the fact he is) where did that leave everybody? Seems a funny thing to cause a chain to collapse. There has to be a way to move to alleviate whatever it is.

But if course we don't know what that is. I am talking to myself here...

Obviously best course of action now is to find somewhere to rent properly. Hmm.