Buying a house from a seperated couple , with court order

Dom29

Hi all ,



Me and my partner are currently going through a bit of a struggle purchasing a property. (a married couple who have split up )



So we viewed the house on the 14th of august , our offer was accepted one week later. We were told by the estate agent that the current occupier (the wife & her new boyfriend) is moving back into council accommodation and has a property ready to move into . The estate agent had to contact them both separately as the refuse to speak to each other.



So we qualified and got the mortgage in principle etc and i filled in all the solicitor stuff.



14th of September i chased them up to find out that the husband had sent in his solicitor pack but the wife hadn't , they had been chasing her all week , she has been ignoring the phone and her new boyfriend called up advising they were "on with it" . I then found out that she'd been looking at council houses and only wanted one in a specific area (which is unlikely in the area which she is wanting). As she claimed it needs to be near her children's school.


on the 20th of september it was confirmed by my solicitor and the estate agent that she had taken in her solicitor pack . But it was at this time i found out that she had a "court order" that she had to leave the house. The estate agent had no more detail and since this date has been trying to contact her with no reply (as i have tried to book a second viewing just to try and meet her)


So far we have spent £408 on a survey , and i know not a particularly long time has passed but reading the horror stories on here should i drop out and find another property or am i being a little hasty ?



Also would anybody know what the court order is likely to instruct ?



Thanks in advance!

martindow

In cases of separation or divorce one person often has little incentive to move out and the other is eager to get hold of the money they are owed. Enforcing a sale is likely to be expensive, slow and difficult.



I think I would try not to get too set on this house and tell your solicitor to stop doing work until there are signs of movement. It might be an idea to let the estate agent know that their fee for selling is at risk as you may be forced to look elsewhere.

Comms69

To be honest it's impossible to say.


A court order, which takes time anyway, will typically start by saying the property must be placed on the open market and sold by a certain date. But it usually takes more court hearings to actually enforce. In particular where a court gives itself or the other party power to sign the contracts.

Ace_Fontaine

Our first house purchase involved a separated couple. The husband owned it but lived elsewhere while the wife lived at the house. When we viewed she made it clear that she loved the house and was sad about having to leave.

The husband agreed that she should have time to find somewhere else to live, which suited us in the short term as we both lived at our respective parents, so we could save more money. However the wife then started cycles of finding a place, making on offer, letting it roll on for a 3 or 4 weeks then pulling out. This went on for months until we told the EA we were pulling out. Later that day she agreed to move out (and did).

We were naive and inexperienced in house buying so allowed it to go on so long, but in the future I think we would be wary of houses with this situation.

POPPYOSCAR

Yes it can be difficult.

It reminds me of a time when we were house hunting for our first home.

One house we went to see it was obvious what was going on.

The wife barely grunted when she opened the door just told us to look around and went back to watching the tv.

Everywhere was fithy. It looked like a weeks worth of washing up was in the sink and piles of clothes lay everywhere. Kids toys were littered all over the floor.

We did not even go upstairs.

The estate agent admitted afterwards that the couple were getting divorced.

Dom29

Thanks for the replies above , we have started looking at other properties etc but seeing how this one goes while we search.



I have had a bit more info. Apparently the divorce settlement order confirms house was to be valued as vacant possession and sold forthwith.


Does this change anything ? as i guess the mrs could still pro-long the signing of the contract ?

steampowered

If she is waiting for a council house it could take years, or never.

Dom29

Bit of an update from my solicitors saying that they have received the draft contract from the sellers solicitor. Is there a point which the sale will get to before she has no option but to move out ?

Comms69

Dom29 wrote: »

Bit of an update from my solicitors saying that they have received the draft contract from the sellers solicitor. Is there a point which the sale will get to before she has no option but to move out ?

Well when you exchange they're obliged to complete. But you're still a few weeks off that I'd say.

foxy-stoat

No solicitor in the land will advise you exchange contracts without vacant possession. IF the vendor does then he will be in for a world of financial pain if/when the ex doesnt move out on completion day - very much doubt his solicitor will exchange contracts until the ex is out.

Keep looking and keep your offer on the table.

AnotherJoe

The problem here is what vacant possession means. In a normal sale the owner occupiers move out on completion day and that's taken on trust. In something like this one of the couple may not move out due to needing to be evicted in order to get council accommodation. . And im not sure where the legal liability lies if they both sign to sell and then just one moves out. Are they both liable for costs ? Or just the one that doesn't move ?