Buyer wants compensation!

ARS14

I sold my house last month. The buyer, after being in over 2 weeks and after doing renovations to most of the house, sent her solicitor a list of 'complaints' with the house.

Things like the wheelie bins weren't emptied so she doesn't have any room for her rubbish until they get emptied on collection day.

Slight bits of dust behind furniture (furniture she requested i  leave behind for her) and at the backs of kitchen drawers. Little toys that have been found in the house underneath said furniture. Things that will have been mistakenly missed when I was cleaning once we left. 
She basically discribed the house as dirty and unliveable (anyone who knows my will say my house is always ocd clean). I gave it a clean with my MIL the day before we handed the keys over and took video proof. 

Belongings left in the loft by me (I never stored anything in the loft and do believe when I moved in there were a few objects left by the previous owner, which I just shrugged off and left there).

Water pressure in kitchen tap is poor. Washing machine that was left behind didn't work (I put it on a clean cycle before we left so I knew it did work). Cold tap in the bath doesn't work (so she's been left unable to have a bath or shower), it did work when I moved out.

Bbq left in garden by mistake (which have apologised for and offered to collect off her).

She was told off her solicitor to do another a viewing before completion to ensure everything was OK. Despite covid restrictions, I gave her free reign of the house to look at anything she wished. I showed her how to use the heating, the log burner, the boiler etc. And obviously everything she was happy with because she still signed the contract. 

She has been told off her solicitor to get a quote for removal of rubbish and repair quotes to forward on to me. Surely I shouldn't have to pay for these as I'm not at fault. She had been in the house weeks before complaining and had already made a start on renovating the house with multiple people going in and out on a daily basis, so how do I know she didn't create these issues herself. 

The amount of things left behind and repairs that needed doing when I bought the house, I just corrected the issues and moved on. I didn't complain about it to them, isn't that the risk with buying a house. 

Is it just me being petty? 

Seashell517

Just respond that the house was sold as seen and ignore them. If they persist, get your solicitor to respond with something similar. Buyer is being ridiculous. 

davidmcn

It's not even worth your while typing all of that out. Just ignore her.

Racky_Roo

Are you in England or Scotland?

quotememiserable

I wouldn't even bother to reply. It's her house now and you have no liability for these sorts of trivial issues. Or ask you solicitor to respond if you'd feel more comfortable.

moneysavinghero

Not you being petty, the buyer is being petty. Just let the solicitor know you will see them in court should they wish to pursue this further. They are trying it on.

blue_max_3

I can't imagine any property is sterile. Ignore. 

NinjaTune

You shouldn't have "shrugged off" the stuff in the loft, you should have removed it.  If she found toys under furniture then I doubt you are "OCD clean" as you obviously haven't hoovered under the furniture.  Rubbish should have been disposed of, not left but I think lots of people do that if collection day is close to completion date.  I was lucky that we completed on bin day so I didn't have that dilemma.

With regards to the other stuff, if she didn't complain until a couple of weeks later about the water tap not working then either she's telling porkies or hadn't washed in all that time.  Same goes for the washing machine as presumably she didn't use it for a couple of weeks.  Not a lot you can do about low water pressure if that's par for the course in your area.  You've offered to collect the BBQ so that's been resolved.

Personally the only thing I'd consider paying for is removal of the rubbish and items you left behind.  I'd make sure I wasn't also paying for removal of stuff from her renovations.

davidmcn

Racky_Roo said:

Are you in England or Scotland?

The only "normal" warranty in Scotland is about utilities/appliances, so arguably the non-functioning tap and the washing machine at most. Can't see it would make a difference to anything else in the list of woes.

Slinky

Sounds like a first time buyer that a previous landlord will have been cheering to see the back of..........

[Deleted User]

Honestly if I moved into a house and found a few bits left here and there, i'd just shrug it off as a minor inconvenience and get rid of them at the next opportunity. There is no way I would go through the hassle of filing complaints through solicitors. Some people have way too much time on their hands!

Things like water pressure can be subjective. What seems like low pressure to some can feel normal to others. It is in no way a case to claim compensation. 

I can understand being annoyed about the bins being full. This happened to us when we moved to our place and I thought it a bit discourteous of the vendors to leave us with no bin space, but again a minor inconvenience. 

I would suggest you do as others have said, ignore the letter and be silently smug in the fact she'll probably get faced with a bill from her solicitor for absolutely nothing gained.