Selling house but discovered something

eddddy

MalMonroe said:

This is something you really should have checked and ignorance is no excuse. When you sell a property you are supposed to be thorough and disclose all and any faults. And complete a TA6 form. You need to disclose this as soon as you can.

If the sale hasn't been completed yet the buyer could withdraw.  But if you think that by keeping the fault concealed you will get away with it, you need to think again. 

If the sale does complete and the buyers discover the fault (which they obviously will) they can - and should - sue you. As you could have done with the sellers of the property you bought. Just because you "cussed and got on with sorting it out" doesn't mean that your buyers will want to do the same. Nor should they be expected to. 

Assuming you are a private seller, and the property is in England or Wales - that is all completely incorrect.


You have no duty to disclose any problems
This would not be grounds for the buyer to withdraw from from the purchase
You cannot be sued for failing to disclose a problem
And of course ignorance is a completely reasonable excuse - if you don't know that a problem exists, how can you disclose it?


But you do have a duty not to say anything misleading in the contract. If you did say something misleading in the contract, and the buyer suffers a loss as a result, the buyer could sue you.

Falafels

MalMonroe said:

lucypilates said:

I’ve already exchanged and only just moved out of my house this week - the sale is due to complete on Monday …

i knew there was an issue with the roof and had it repaired when I first went on the market in March. Obviously there’s no real way of knowing if the repair is complete other than time and seeing if any issues re-arise..

 so once I moved my belongings out of the cupboard, it became apparent that the issue was bigger than I thought and the back wall of the cupboard is really quite affected!

i haven’t said anything … should I? It’sa done deal now and very little I can do between now and Monday and I genuinely didn’t know that the damp had spread further than where I got it repaired …

incidentally, the house I’ve bought has given me a lot of issues that I wasn’t aware of and I’ve just cussed and got on with sorting it out .. so could I expect same of my buyers??? 

Otherwise, my house I’m selling is a great house with no other issues!! 

This is something you really should have checked and ignorance is no excuse. When you sell a property you are supposed to be thorough and disclose all and any faults. And complete a TA6 form. You need to disclose this as soon as you can.

If the sale hasn't been completed yet the buyer could withdraw.  But if you think that by keeping the fault concealed you will get away with it, you need to think again. 

If the sale does complete and the buyers discover the fault (which they obviously will) they can - and should - sue you. As you could have done with the sellers of the property you bought. Just because you "cussed and got on with sorting it out" doesn't mean that your buyers will want to do the same. Nor should they be expected to. 

Just be honest. You know it's the right thing to do.

This is an absolutely astonishing, unreasonable and unhelpful post ^^^.

I know I've encountered problems which my vendors were unaware of until they were moving out, for the same reason as the OP, or stuff that cropped up very shortly after I moved in. It goes with the territory.

It's clear that the OP had the roof repaired before the house went on the market in the belief that this would sort out any problems with water ingress. A property owner cannot reasonably be expected to be "thorough and disclose all and any faults"; for a start, they're not usually qualified to do so - which is why buyers hire surveyors - and it's impossible for anyone, under any circumstances, to disclose issues they are not aware of.

It's also highly unlikely the buyers would withdraw at this stage - they would be in breach of contract, with all the legal implications of that, for a start.

babyblade41

It's really up to you ,the buyer has to do due diligence and will make a difference if there was a survey done as it should have come up unless they couldn't access the area.

I doubt you'd get sued unless you were misleading on the PIF  .

Enjoy your new house ... 

Sistergold

@lucypilates there is really nothing to be guilty about in this instance. You sorted out the roof to the best of your ability. When it was sorted out the real issue might still not have been sorted out at the time and May just need more investigations. At this point it’s too late for you to look further into this. Ventilation might be the answer to this problem too which still means it’s nothing you can do. Some sellers will also know about a problem and not tell the buyer, it’s just the way it is unfortunately. Just as you are now dealing with issues at your new house your buyer will have to deal with this damp issue and even other problems which will come up once you leave. I think there is a devil which goes about creating problems for any buyer so that you are tested if you are cut out for home ownership! On buying a house you really need to make sure that in your new house you have a deep pocket and pray for the best! 

Enjoy your new house and once your buyer sorted out your old house they will also enjoy the house. Xx

macman

MalMonroe said:

lucypilates said:

I’ve already exchanged and only just moved out of my house this week - the sale is due to complete on Monday …

i knew there was an issue with the roof and had it repaired when I first went on the market in March. Obviously there’s no real way of knowing if the repair is complete other than time and seeing if any issues re-arise..

 so once I moved my belongings out of the cupboard, it became apparent that the issue was bigger than I thought and the back wall of the cupboard is really quite affected!

i haven’t said anything … should I? It’sa done deal now and very little I can do between now and Monday and I genuinely didn’t know that the damp had spread further than where I got it repaired …

incidentally, the house I’ve bought has given me a lot of issues that I wasn’t aware of and I’ve just cussed and got on with sorting it out .. so could I expect same of my buyers??? 

Otherwise, my house I’m selling is a great house with no other issues!! 

This is something you really should have checked and ignorance is no excuse. When you sell a property you are supposed to be thorough and disclose all and any faults. And complete a TA6 form. You need to disclose this as soon as you can.

If the sale hasn't been completed yet the buyer could withdraw.  But if you think that by keeping the fault concealed you will get away with it, you need to think again. 

If the sale does complete and the buyers discover the fault (which they obviously will) they can - and should - sue you. As you could have done with the sellers of the property you bought. Just because you "cussed and got on with sorting it out" doesn't mean that your buyers will want to do the same. Nor should they be expected to. 

Just be honest. You know it's the right thing to do.

And what exactly is your source for this info? All the vendor has to do is to be truthful in answering questions, be they verbal or written via the TA6. Subject to that, they are under no obligation whatsoever to declare any known faults, and the buyer cannot sue because they failed to survey/inspect adequately to reveal and potential faults.
And how exactly do you think the buyer can 'withdraw' after completion? Even if the house were to burn to the ground over the weekend, they would still be obliged to complete now, or lose their deposit at the very least.

Iwishiwish

Personally I would tell them, I have just moved house, 2 weeks in and the ceiling in the back bedroom came down, causing and costing a whole number Of issues. ( I did have survey etc completed - but not picked up) 

If they would of told me I would of concentrated on ensuring it was rectified instead of nearly seriously if not fatally injuring someone. 

You’ve exchanged contracts they are committed, just advise them as you are moving out you noticed said issue, you had roof repaired etc etc. 

NameUnavailable

At this stage I would say nothing. If they get in touch about it then you can say you had repairs done which should have cured the problem. No doubt they will be redecorating anyway.

Octothorpe

My last house, on moving day it was torrential rain. As i checked over house before leaving, i saw massive damp appearing on a bedroom wall! Literally hadn't been there day before!

There was clearly a problem with the flat roof. I felt really bad, but at the end of the day, that was the new owners problem now.

Just like the weird and wonderful diy at my new place was now my problem!

lucypilates

Thanks all for your comments except for maybe one, you know who you are, - anyway I have decided to let sleeping dogs lie and not bring this up. If I could do something about it, then I might’ve mentioned it, but as they’re moving in tomorrow, I will just let it go. 

i remember when I took over my new house, I kept seeing things’ wrong’ and got annoyed but the only real avenue open to me was to suck it up and get on with remedying what needed remedying. 

I assume the new owners will find more than what I just mentioned, because they are seeing the property with fresh eyes and won’t miss all the things I’ve subconsciously ignored over the years … but I’m sure they will love the house and the area once they’ve settled in.

all part of moving home into the unfamiliar. 

Jumblebumble

MalMonroe said:

lucypilates said:

I’ve already exchanged and only just moved out of my house this week - the sale is due to complete on Monday …

i knew there was an issue with the roof and had it repaired when I first went on the market in March. Obviously there’s no real way of knowing if the repair is complete other than time and seeing if any issues re-arise..

 so once I moved my belongings out of the cupboard, it became apparent that the issue was bigger than I thought and the back wall of the cupboard is really quite affected!

i haven’t said anything … should I? It’sa done deal now and very little I can do between now and Monday and I genuinely didn’t know that the damp had spread further than where I got it repaired …

incidentally, the house I’ve bought has given me a lot of issues that I wasn’t aware of and I’ve just cussed and got on with sorting it out .. so could I expect same of my buyers??? 

Otherwise, my house I’m selling is a great house with no other issues!! 

This is something you really should have checked and ignorance is no excuse. When you sell a property you are supposed to be thorough and disclose all and any faults. And complete a TA6 form. You need to disclose this as soon as you can.

If the sale hasn't been completed yet the buyer could withdraw.  But if you think that by keeping the fault concealed you will get away with it, you need to think again. 

If the sale does complete and the buyers discover the fault (which they obviously will) they can - and should - sue you. As you could have done with the sellers of the property you bought. Just because you "cussed and got on with sorting it out" doesn't mean that your buyers will want to do the same. Nor should they be expected to. 

Just be honest. You know it's the right thing to do.

You have made most of this up.
There is no way the buyer can withdraw
You need to look up Caveat Emptor as applied to house sales