Property auction problem....help !!

princeofpounds

I'm not an expert in contract law and certainly not in this weird method of 'auction', but I would be very surprised if you have actually contracted to buy anything here. Forming a contract in English law requires both an agreement and 'consideration' (something of value to pass between the parties - such as a deposit). The exception is if it was a deed, but that's highly unlikely - I presume you didn't have to get the form witnessed? I am not sure that you established an agreement and there does not appear to be any consideration. The 'subject to contract' line in that email is one giveaway here.

My guess is that you are not bound by anything until you have paid this reservation fee. See more from the link below, but it seems to be this plus acceptance of the bid that creates a contract that gives you an option to buy. Paying the money might be the worst thing you can do, as it would legitimise their dealings with you.

https://www.fosters-solicitors.co.uk/news/property/modern-method-of-auction/662

In addition, as a consumer you are not bound by any T&Cs that were not presented to you before any agreement, although they may have been referred to you on this mystery form.

It's a bit hard to offer you concrete suggestions beyond 'go talk to a solicitor' because you seem to be quite unclear about what you have and haven't done. In particular, we have zero idea what you signed up to on this form, and you seem to have erased almost all evidence that may have been useful to you (who does a 'monthly clean-up' of text message on their phone?!).

Unless you have done a factory reset it's quite possible your old text messages are still on the device and could be recovered by specialists, but that would cost something.

I'm very much in the 'they are trying their luck' camp, but do get professional advice. I wouldn't feel bound by any fake deadlines. 

davidmcn

princeofpounds said:

Forming a contract in English law requires both an agreement and 'consideration' (something of value to pass between the parties - such as a deposit).

There doesn't need to be anything of value to have actually passed in order for the contract to have been formed, merely that the contract provides for there to be a consideration of some sort - which could be paid at a later date. Not that it sounds likely that's what's happened here, but none of us (unfortunately including the OP!) know what's been signed.

Edward70

I have searched all my emails. I do generally clear them regularly as I have very little space on my phone but I've found what I was sent. It seems I was sent a link whilst the auction was ongoing and that link was an online bidding form. However the auction lady got straight back to me within ten minutes and said my offer had been rejected and we had the conversation about wether I needed to do anything or was that torn up as it were and that's what she confirmed. The auction boss was taking the line that the offer wasn't satisfactory to the vendor at that time but he reconsidered and decided to accept it two weeks later just before the auction end despite the exchange of messages I've spoken about between me and the auction lady where she asks if I'd like to re offer the 110 and I decline. Having originally followed the link it is now dead as the auction has ended so I never had a copy.

eddddy

Edward70 said:

It seems I was sent a link whilst the auction was ongoing and that link was an online bidding form.

However the auction lady got straight back to me within ten minutes and said my offer had been rejected and we had the conversation about wether I needed to do anything or was that torn up as it were and that's what she confirmed.

The auction boss was taking the line that the offer wasn't satisfactory to the vendor at that time but he reconsidered and decided to accept it two weeks later just before the auction end despite the exchange of messages I've spoken about between me and the auction lady where she asks if I'd like to re offer the 110 and I decline. Having originally followed the link it is now dead as the auction has ended so I never had a copy.

So is this summary correct?

1. You made an online bid on an auction.
2. In a follow up phone conversation, you believe that you retracted that bid
3. The auctioneer is saying that you didn't retract the bid in the phone call, and you have since won the auction

So a lot hinges on what was said in that phone call.

For example, was the lady saying something like... "your bid is below the reserve, so the seller is unlikely to sell at that price. Would you like to increase your bid?"

Did you clearly say that you were retracting your bid?

TBH, it's not really plausible to suggest that the lady at the auctioneers was phoning you to tell you they were rejecting your bid - there's no real reason they would do that.

Jumblebumble

Edward70 said:

I have searched all my emails. I do generally clear them regularly as I have very little space on my phone but I've found what I was sent. It seems I was sent a link whilst the auction was ongoing and that link was an online bidding form. However the auction lady got straight back to me within ten minutes and said my offer had been rejected and we had the conversation about wether I needed to do anything or was that torn up as it were and that's what she confirmed. The auction boss was taking the line that the offer wasn't satisfactory to the vendor at that time but he reconsidered and decided to accept it two weeks later just before the auction end despite the exchange of messages I've spoken about between me and the auction lady where she asks if I'd like to re offer the 110 and I decline. Having originally followed the link it is now dead as the auction has ended so I never had a copy.

Hi
Have you asked if the Auction House record their phone calls and if you can have a copy?
This is not helpful for your current dilema I would advise that one never trusts any phone conversation unless you either have recorded it or the person making the call backs up what was said in an email
I think clearing emails is a tad   foolish if they refer to a £100k purchase and you may want to take some advice from an IT expert about setting up Office 365 so you will retain emails for ever regardless of your phone's capacity
Just yesterday someone contacted me about a locked hard drive password from 2017
Because I retain  every email I have sent or received  for the last 10 years it took me 5 minutes to resolve
Unfortunately you could have been talking to the cleaner at the auction house for all you know.

Thrugelmir

Do you have a copy of the bid form that you completed and submitted? 

jay213

Any updates on what has happened?