Help solicitor stopped completion!

Karenmrks

We were due to move into our new property Friday having exchanged the day before. Come 4pm no keys were handed over and we were eagarly outside our new property with all of our stuff packed in the van in our freezing cold car (it was a new build). I then get a call from my solicitor saying that the buyers solicitor missed a point regarding an extra charge on our house that our buyers were purchasing and she is stopping the completion and won't send the money over. Our solicitor served a notice to complete and she stopped updating everyone and went home! Now we are stuck in limbo and don't have a clue what's going to happen! What can be done? It really shouldn't have gotten to this stage, surely they should have checked all this before? Anyoje been through this?!

G_M

If you have nowhere to go, check into a reasnable hotel. KEEP all you hoteland meal receipts.


You will claim all your costs from your buyer who failed to complete as per contract. Removals costs too.


Hopefulky it will be resolved Monday, but you should not be out of pocket.

[Deleted User]

Karenmrks wrote: »

We were due to move into our new property Friday having exchanged the day before. Come 4pm no keys were handed over and we were eagarly outside our new property with all of our stuff packed in the van in our freezing cold car (it was a new build). I then get a call from my solicitor saying that the buyers solicitor missed a point regarding an extra charge on our house that our buyers were purchasing and she is stopping the completion and won't send the money over. Our solicitor served a notice to complete and she stopped updating everyone and went home! Now we are stuck in limbo and don't have a clue what's going to happen! What can be done? It really shouldn't have gotten to this stage, surely they should have checked all this before? Anyoje been through this?!

There are quite a few threads on the forum about this. I think the most well known if by Welshwoofs although in that scenario the OP was the buyer and it was the vendor who wouldn't complete but the principles are much the same in that the one in breach of the contract forfeits their deposit and can be held liable for the costs of the other party.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1806123/vendors-pull-out-after-exchange-of-contract

It sounds like your buyer's solicitor has seriously dropped the ball. Do you have any idea about this extra charge on your house and will the proceeds of the sale be enough to satisfy all the outstanding charges?

Karenmrks

Our house is on a shared equity scheme and the charge is to do with the percentage that will not be owned by the new owners. Apparently the charge doesnt actually affect the cost of the house or anything like that. Sorry I'm being vague I don't really understand it and at the time I was very very upset so it went over my head! I'm hoping it will be resolved and we can still have the house but I'm not holding my breath! Will take a look at the link thank you.

GDB2222

Hopefully, this will all be sorted out next week.

Unfortunately, it may not be, and you could end up significantly out of pocket. The reason is that you presumably need the money from your sale in order to complete your purchase, and the deposit you stand to lose on your purchase is more than the deposit you’ll gain from your buyers.

If necessary, could you find the money to complete your purchase if the sale of your house falls through?

In theory you can sue your buyers, but in practice they probably don’t have a lot of money. Possibly, their solicitor has been negligent, and their insurance will pay for everything, but that can take years to sort out.

So, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

AdrianC

Karenmrks wrote: »

I then get a call from my solicitor saying that the buyers solicitor missed a point regarding an extra charge on our house that our buyers were purchasing and she is stopping the completion and won't send the money over.

The most important question... Have you exchanged, or were you exchanging and completing simultaneously?

You need to understand what's actually happened.
Have the buyer's solicitor picked up on a charge that your solicitor has overlooked?
Or are they panicking over nothing?
If you've exchanged, this is crucial to who is liable here.
If you haven't exchanged, then all bets are off, and it's just a question of another delay.

Karenmrks

We exchanged the day before. Our solicitor said our buyers solicitor picked up on this charge the day of completion so refused to send the money over

GDB2222

Karenmrks wrote: »

We exchanged the day before. Our solicitor said our buyers solicitor picked up on this charge the day of completion so refused to send the money over

It certainly sounds like one of the solicitors has fallen down on the job, but hopefully it will get sorted out.

We had a buyer who failed to complete on a purchase a few months ago. We issued a completion notice, which gave him two weeks to come up with the money, and we then kept the deposit. We are now remarketing the property, without success. In theory, if we eventually make a loss of more than the deposit we can sue him.

It is quite rare to issue a completion notice, but the feedback we got is that it is usual for the problems to be ironed out during the two week period.

RedFraggle

Just as a general future advice/learning point I always refuse to complete on a Friday so if anything does go wrong the next day is still a normal working day.

csgohan4

Looks like the buyer's solicitor is going to be getting a lawsuit soon

assuming your solicitors answered all queries

GDB2222

csgohan4 wrote: »

Looks like the buyer's solicitor is going to be getting a lawsuit soon

Probably. Or the seller’s solicitor forgot to pass on some papers. Or the seller inadvertently got something wrong.