Vender being difficult

magicman62

My daughter is trying to purchase a house , not easy with covid and lock down. Last August she found a perfect house for her needs and  made a offer on it which was accepted on the spot plus and asshe had a mortgage already in place subject to satisfactory surveys etc and was expecting to move in  before Xmas last year agreed by the vender, however the vender hit a snag which meant before Xmas would not be possible till the end  of January which then dragged out till the end of February . When things  finally started to move it was discovered that my daughter's mortgage offer had expired and the lender had to set it up again , she then found out that the venders  solicitor had failed to issue some paper work another hold up. When this was finally sorted they agreed a moving date and where due to sign the papers today . This morning the vender phoned my daughter and said they were pulling out..can my daughter recoupe any off the monies paid out, for surveys land searches etc some off which was borrowed from the bank off daddy which was to be paid back on release of the mortgage funds.. can they do this  its not fair ..

TadleyBaggie

magicman62 said:

can they do this  its not fair ..

If exchange of contracts has not occurred, then yes they can. No contract has been formed and so recouping fees etc. from the vendor isn't going to happen.

MaryNB

Unfortunately there's nothing she can do. Until exchange the vendor (and buyer) is entirely within their rights to pull out. She cannot claim the cost of any of the surveys. It's a risk everyone takes when buying and selling houses. The only way to mitigate it is to take out some kind of home buyers insurance, obviously too late in her case but something to consider in the future perhaps. 

avawat20

Yes they can and very unlikely unless she got homebuying insurance.

Slithery

magicman62 said:

can my daughter recoupe any off the monies paid out, for surveys land searches etc some off which was borrowed from the bank off daddy which was to be paid back on release of the mortgage funds.. can they do this  its not fair ..

Until exchange either party can pull out for no reason, so no - nothing can be reclaimed.
Whoever told your daughter that life was fair was lying - it isn't.

NameUnavailable

The point of paying for a survey and searches it to satisfy yourself that there's no nasty surprises regarding the property (major works, a motorway about to be built through the middle of it etc.) which would maybe make you decide not to proceed with the purchase, and if you do find issues and pull out, it's money well spent isn't it?

Until you exchange contracts (buying in England/Wales) there is no contract, and if there's no contract there's no liability on either party, just an agreement to sell/buy at a price but that is also not fixed until exchange.

So no, you can't get any compensation.

However some providers of surveys/searches will offer a second survey/search at no or reduced cost - check the T&C's to see if that might apply.

Murphybear

Slithery said:

magicman62 said:

can my daughter recoupe any off the monies paid out, for surveys land searches etc some off which was borrowed from the bank off daddy which was to be paid back on release of the mortgage funds.. can they do this  its not fair ..

Until exchange either party can pull out for no reason, so no - nothing can be reclaimed.
Whoever told your daughter that life was fair was lying - it isn't.

When I was very young I used to say “it’s not fair” about a lot of things.  My father used to reply “what’s not fair, a dark horse?”.  I got the message eventually,  life’s not always fair 

Davesnave

I would only add that it's also upsetting the other way around, when a purchaser pulls out at a late stage. Either way, it's not unfair, it's unfortunate. About 30% of house sales fail at different stages, so it's a known risk which has to be accepted if people decide to buy or sell houses.

AdrianC

magicman62 said:

My daughter is trying to purchase a house , not easy with covid and lock down. Last August she found a perfect house for her needs and  made a offer on it which was accepted on the spot plus and asshe had a mortgage already in place subject to satisfactory surveys etc and was expecting to move in  before Xmas last year agreed by the vender, however the vender hit a snag which meant before Xmas would not be possible till the end  of January which then dragged out till the end of February . When things  finally started to move it was discovered that my daughter's mortgage offer had expired and the lender had to set it up again , she then found out that the venders  solicitor had failed to issue some paper work another hold up. When this was finally sorted they agreed a moving date and where due to sign the papers today . This morning the vender phoned my daughter and said they were pulling out..can my daughter recoupe any off the monies paid out, for surveys land searches etc some off which was borrowed from the bank off daddy which was to be paid back on release of the mortgage funds.. can they do this  its not fair ..

What was this "snag" the vendor hit?

It sounds like there was a delay of a month or so due to something on the vendor's side, followed by a delay on your daughter's part because her mortgage offer had expired...

But, no, until exchange, there is simply no legally binding agreement to buy or sell in place, and either side can pull out for any reason or none.

I'm sure the bank of daddy can hold back on taking enforcement action on the debt.

magicman62

The delay was on the venders side the hold up was caused by their chain collapsing which meant that had to start again..

Jeepers_Creepers

That original delay had an understandable reason, then, so it doesn't look as tho' the vendor was being difficult or awkward. Most likely this is also the case with them pulling out at the last moment.

These things are deeply upsetting, and also costly. Possibly 'unfair' too, altho' overall the 'unfairness's' cancel each other out in the buying/selling scheme of things. Such things certainly feel unfair, but I doubt the seller intended for it to happen, or is happy about it either. Have you been given an explanation?

The EA won't be happy either, and if there is any sense that the vendor has been messing people about, then they'll be treating them with extreme caution from now on.

The good news is that an even more perfect house is out there waiting for your daughter to find. There is - really. There is.