Are we being scammed?

Mickygg

Something must be amiss here. I’ve only heard on open completion dates on very few times and usually when two parties know each other such as family.

It makes no sense why you would agree to this, especially knowing the history of them selling but not selling. Legally you own a property that someone else is living in, they essentially have as much time as they like to find another property, have your deposit already and may be treating the house as if it’s not theirs. As mentioned above I hope you have been insuring the property, although insuring in this situation for over a year and counting is likely to cost a lot of money. Even then I don’t know how you can confidently insure it without knowing if they have done any changes, lock the windows etc etc.

I would definately get some legal advice from another solicitor. Oh and if you ever complete make sure you view the property before completing to check they have been looking after the property and no sign of damage or damp.

ScammedandScared

The property is insured but we're very lucky that it's not costing us anything. I work for an insurance brokers and my employer provide insurance to employees as a benefit (home, car, pet, health, life).

davidmcn

ScammedandScared said:

I spoke to a friend who is a solicitor just by the by

Has he looked at your contract? Can you tell us exactly what it says about the completion date? Is there no longstop date i.e. a point at which you're entitled to walk away? Did you get any advice (in writing) from your solicitors about the implications of entering into a contract in this form?

It would appear negligent for your solicitors to advise you to proceed on this basis (without a very clear health warning about the risks). Even where it makes sense to complete on notice (i.e. where the house is still to be built but nobody knows exactly when it will be finished), these days solicitors will recommend a longstop date so you're not bound into the contract until doomsday.

Probably makes sense to go through your solicitors' own complaints procedure first before you spend more money getting a second opinion.

ScammedandScared

Our contract says "non-binding shortstop date August 15 2019 but completion is on notice" - there doesn't appear to be a longstop date?

AdrianC

Well, if you really HAVE exchanged with "on notice", then you're as bound to the purchase as they are to the sale. Is there a long-stop date in there?

tom9980

If there is no long stop date then I would suggest your solicitor has been negligent.
I suggest you tell your solicitor to ensure completion happens ASAP or gets the contract torn up and your deposit returned or you will have no choice but to seek legal advice.

eddddy

ScammedandScared said:

So, our exchange contract says "completion on notice" instead of a date. 

So is the contract completely open ended - no date by which the seller must complete, and no date after which you can pull out without losing your deposit? 

If so, to be honest, it does sound very much like you've been scammed.  And your solicitor should have been almost 'screaming in your face' about the risks of signing a contract like that.

From your first post, it sounds like somebody was giving you shockingly bad advice - I'd guess it was the seller. Are the seller and EA connected in any way?

Assuming you have the funds to complete, I'd be tempted to try tricking the seller, by telling them that you no longer have funds to complete and you want to back out. If the seller is a scammer, that might prompt them to serve notice to complete - because they'd expect you to default and lose your deposit.

ScammedandScared

No idea if they're connected to the EA. I've just called a local property solicitors and they said they'll call me back. I do like your idea - it just might work

Brewerspride

@ScammedandScared

Is your mortgage offer still valid? I understand from posts I've read elsewhere on this board that mortgage offers are usually only valid for a set period of time.

Scotbot

I doubt the seller has any intention of finding a second house and completing.  You need to find out whether  there is a long stop date, email your solicitor and ask what the date is. You can then start to take action against your solicitor but this is always difficult. Get independent legal advice preferably from a solicitor outside your area as  they tend to know each other since most conveyancing is done by local firms. It may also be worth talking to the Citizens advice bureau, it certainly won't  do any harm and it is free.