Abandoned mattress after completion

margaret.balin

Hello,

I recently completed on a property and in one of the rooms there is a mattress.

We specified we wanted to receive the property unfurnished.
I checked with the council and it's expensive to get this collected.

What do we do now? How can we charge it back to the seller who presumably moved abroad?

Thank you

m0bov

Ask your sol to contact the sellers sol and remind them its vacant possession and you will seek the cost of removing the mattress.

Get a quote, send an LBA to the seller and give them 7 days to either pay or collect. Then do a MCOL.

pinkteapot

If you don't get anywhere claiming money from the seller - if the mattress is in reasonable condition offer it for free collection on your local Facebook buying/selling group. Whenever we've replaced our mattresses people have taken the old ones off our hands. Saves paying the council's collection charge.

theartfullodger

Legal fees for suing likely to be more than council charge for removal.

Your choice!

Dontcha love it when there's a deal in the £100k's and people want to squabble about a few quid.


However, as you acknowledge (publicly on an open forum), it's not your property so disposing of it without their permission would be unlawful.

Red-Squirrel_2

I wouldn't bother trying to pursue the seller, just stick it up on facebook as free to anybody who will collect it. You could try a local homelessness charity or women's refuge first I suppose but I doubt if they'd take a second hand mattress.

Every time I've moved the sellers have left random crap and old furniture behind. I've never wasted my time trying to get in touch with them or worrying about the fact that its technically their property. If they were able to empty the rest of the house and they actually wanted that mattress they'd have taken it!

gastroboy

Contact the sellers to say you will get rid of it but don’t bother with court. That’s a waste of the courts time and yours.

There are very easy ways of getting rid of it for free. Check out Freecycle in your area and someone will pick it up for nothing.

foxy-stoat

Why not put the mattress in the van that you used to move in and take it to the nearest tip. It would be free.

davidmcn

margaret.balin wrote: »

I checked with the council and it's expensive to get this collected.

Whatever your council charges to pick up a mattress is no doubt a fraction of the cost of pursuing a small debt against somebody who has left the country.

SmashedAvacado

If you have the contact details of the seller, send them a polite email exclaiming how much you are liking the new property. Indicate to them that you will of course keep any post for them that doesnt get picked up by the auto diversion (as this sometimes happens) and then drop into the email that they seem to have left a mattress there and ask when they are going to collect it. Offer to remove it if they pay the cost of removal. Be nice. Make them feel guilty about being not so nice. It might not work, but legal action for this sort of thing is not worth it.

marliepanda

It is annoying, though I think I'd rather one big item than the myriad of random crap left stashed in cupboards by my sellers (including some lovely boots that I binned and then they asked for them! Woops. Theyre in the local landfill but there was your high vis jacket wrapped around them too so you might find them!)

But yeah, if you have a car thats not your fave you could maybe squash it in there and take it to the tip. I got a double in a 2004 Nissan Micra once, but it was shabby so I didnt mind if the car got hurt by it!

SmashedAvacado

If you want to be naughty, then send them an email saying that an important looking parcel has been delivered for them and that you are keeping it for them - and that you are happy to hand it to them when they come and pick up the mattress. Make a parcel and hand deliver it to yourself and perhaps put a pack of smarties in it if they agree to come. Make sure the mattress is on their car / van before you hand it to them. .