Things left in loft after completion

SweetPotatoPie

Hannimal said:

It's not a gesture of good will. My seller also did this to me - someone bought from you, presumably, a property in vacant possession. You decided to not clear it up for them. That is a nasty thing to do, it was your responsibility to clear it up. You should pay the whole cost, and are in fact legally obliged to do so. Should they take you to small claims they would win. 

Are you the person who’s bought her old property? 

Mildreds_Earrings

Nik85 said:

My buyer has sent me a letter threatening small claims court for items left in the loft of my old house after completion. She wants £600 for removal and skip hire costs for items I know nothing about. I never used the loft as it wasn't boarded and had no electricity. I'm very upset by this as it clearly wasn't intentional on my part but she has provided no proof of said items and with the current pandemic she won't allow me access to remove them (whatever it is) myself. I'm tempted to offer her half the requested amount as a gesture of goodwill but surely no one would pay the full amount without evidence? I think she's more fired up as she thinks I've been ignoring her messages when infact I never received them due to her not actually having my new number. Any advice?

@Nik85 I am sorry this has upset you but yes, you are liable, even if you didn't know there were items in the loft.  I would send the Buyer a letter or email apologising, let them know that you were unaware the loft was full and that was not your intention to leave any items in the property.  Ask for photographic evidence of what was left up there and then you will have to offer to remove the items asap or pay the Buyer to get the items removed.  Remember, the Buyer will want to store their own items in the loft and they cannot do so until the loft is clear.

When we sold our house last year, we checked absolutely everywhere, cleaned everywhere and the only items we left was wallpaper and paint already used on the walls, which would have been useful for the Buyer.  Absolutely everything else went.  We even made sure the refuse bins were emptied!

I realise this next statement does not apply to you but it's just a thought of how the Buyer might be feeling.....Judge Judy's words in a very similar case: 'You didn't want your junk, so you left it but you think another person wants your junk?'

Unicorn_cottage

How did they know where you had moved to in order to send you a letter?

Tiglet2

Nik85 said:

Honestly, I have no idea what's up there. But good point, how can it require a skip? I understand that whether or not it's  mine it shouldn't be technically be there but I myself have inherited some old tyres, bricks, toys and a bike with my new house which I wasn't planning on charging my seller for. Seems a very extreme response hence my being so upset about it. 

During the entire period of your ownership, did you never go into the loft or look through the hatch?  Surely at some point (particularly as you knew it wasn't boarded and had no electricity), you must have looked.   Do you think the loft contains your own stuff or the owner before you?  However, I agree that the first action should be to apologise and ask for photographic evidence before agreeing to any action.

JGB1955

It only cost me £700 to have house clearance people empty my fathers 4 bed house (including 30 years of possessions, garage and garden contents). They had full waste removal licences.  It took them over a day.  Someone is taking the mickey.  Suggest you employ a house clearance company to do the job!

JGB1955

Mildreds_Earrings said:

When we sold our house last year, we checked absolutely everywhere, cleaned everywhere and the only items we left was wallpaper and paint already used on the walls, which would have been useful for the Buyer.  Absolutely everything else went.  

'You didn't want your junk, so you left it but you think another person wants your junk?'

Perhaps your buyers might have thought the same ......  Were they given an option?

ProDave

Never under estimate buyers.

I once left boxes of spare wall tiles when we sold a house, so if they had a breakage or wanted to do alterations, there were spare tiles of all the sorts we had used.  The very disgruntled buyer insisted we remove them which we did.

I can never understand how some people can be so illogical, so miserable and so downright obnoxious to deal with.

Slinky

It's perfectly possible for the OP to know there's no boarding or electric in their loft without looking, by having asked or been informed by the person she bought the house from if there was boarding or electric up there.

youth_leader

I was able to move out slowly as I had already moved out into rented, and left some paint and some spare tiles from the bathroom.  I  then read a post on here where a buyer had complained about similar via his solicitor,  so I went back and collected it all.  Unfortunately I  was rushing and the lid came off one of the paint pots, two hours and two bottles of turps later I'd managed to get most of it off the garage floor. Check your lids! 

Bossworld

The place we’re in now was left in a terrible state but included kitchen cupboards full of out of date food, and a loft full of hoarded stuff with no value (old carpet off-cuts, glazing panels, bags, clothes). Took six Transit loads to shift it all.

Financially I asked the seller (well, had to threaten with small claims as they left no forwarding address) for £500 in total to cover disposal, and as a fair contribution to the washer and dishwasher that they’d walked off with. Got that eventually.

Back to others’ points - if you can safely get in to remove the items then maybe try it, but on the other hand if £250 for a skip (or man with van) will sort the issue and reduce contact with other households, it’s probably worth the cost.