Declaration of a dispute

GDB2222

Gavin83 said:

GDB2222 said:

SavingPennies_2 said:

Browntoa said:

I would say at any point where you have approached your neighbours about noise , boundaries etc even if it was only verbal. 

Remember that an angry neighbour is most likely to say " I told the old owners " 

babyblade41 said:

I would disclose any point where a verbal cross over has happened.

I've never had a dispute - however - would you *really* disclose a "dispute" if on one occasion in many years you (for example) you asked the neighbour to turn the music down, or kids to stop kicking a ball into the garden, or to move the car from blocking their drive? To me this is not a "dispute" and I find it hard to believe that people would actually risk selling their home and disclose such a thing. I'm not a confrontational person but I imagine conversations like this happen all the time and nothing comes of it, they are hardly "disputes", just part of life and living in the vicinity of other people.

However if it's got the stage of solicitors letters, then yes I would say that is a dispute that needs declaring (even if resolved).

The explanatory notes state that past, ie resolved, complaints must also be disclosed.

 It’s worth distinguishing between complaints and requests. A request to turn the music down is not a complaint or dispute, or at least it doesn’t have to be!

What's the difference between a complaint and a request? In what way is a request to turn the music down not a complaint?

When in a restaurant, you can request some pepper, or complain that there isn't any on the table. I think that's a valid difference, even though they both relate to the same preference for more pepper than has been provided?

user1977

Gavin83 said:

GDB2222 said:

SavingPennies_2 said:

Browntoa said:

I would say at any point where you have approached your neighbours about noise , boundaries etc even if it was only verbal. 

Remember that an angry neighbour is most likely to say " I told the old owners " 

babyblade41 said:

I would disclose any point where a verbal cross over has happened.

I've never had a dispute - however - would you *really* disclose a "dispute" if on one occasion in many years you (for example) you asked the neighbour to turn the music down, or kids to stop kicking a ball into the garden, or to move the car from blocking their drive? To me this is not a "dispute" and I find it hard to believe that people would actually risk selling their home and disclose such a thing. I'm not a confrontational person but I imagine conversations like this happen all the time and nothing comes of it, they are hardly "disputes", just part of life and living in the vicinity of other people.

However if it's got the stage of solicitors letters, then yes I would say that is a dispute that needs declaring (even if resolved).

The explanatory notes state that past, ie resolved, complaints must also be disclosed.

 It’s worth distinguishing between complaints and requests. A request to turn the music down is not a complaint or dispute, or at least it doesn’t have to be!

What's the difference between a complaint and a request? In what way is a request to turn the music down not a complaint?

"Could you turn your music down please"
"Oops yes, sorry didn't realise you could hear it"

- not something worthy of declaring.

Different if it's happening every night, or the response is a bit more...robust.

doodling

Hi,

Or to more obviously draw out the difference:

Request:  "Please turn the music down."

Complaint:  "That music is far too loud, please turn it down."

Dispute: "That music is far too loud, please turn it down."  Response: "No, it isn't."

Note that frequent requests might fall under the "anything that could lead to a dispute in the future" category.

NameUnavailable

This thread is funny because when someone else posted a question about what they could do having bought a property and then finding out about a previous dispute the sellers had with the neighbour, the advice was 'what do you think you can do about it' or  'move on' or 'is it worth the legal cost to do anything' or 'sell up if you don't like it' etc. etc.

staffie1

NameUnavailable said:

This thread is funny because when someone else posted a question about what they could do having bought a property and then finding out about a previous dispute the sellers had with the neighbour, the advice was 'what do you think you can do about it' or  'move on' or 'is it worth the legal cost to do anything' or 'sell up if you don't like it' etc. etc.

Yes, that’s very true!

Woolsery

NameUnavailable said:

This thread is funny because when someone else posted a question about what they could do having bought a property and then finding out about a previous dispute the sellers had with the neighbour, the advice was 'what do you think you can do about it' or  'move on' or 'is it worth the legal cost to do anything' or 'sell up if you don't like it' etc. etc.

You're right. Most neighbour friction is small beer and no one goes to court without a very good reason.

The distinction between a request and a complaint is also valid, as is the difference between a discussion and an argument. The difference may be down to subtle differences in personality, which is why the neighbours on our side of a stream have a dispute with the landowners on the other side and we have an unresolved discussion. Our neighbours and the other side landowners have both made threats of legal action, while we've done the tea and cake thing and pored over various documents together. We still don't agree on what these indicate, but we know it would be very expensive to get a ruling about it, so it's better we agree not to 'know' and just consider each others' interests when doing practical stuff, like cutting hedges, felling trees etc. No one feels threatened, so it's not  a big problem.

I suppose if we were selling we'd say something like, "The exact boundary between X and Y on the title plan is not agreed, but the neighbouring farm maintains their side of the hedge and we maintain ours" That's a whole heap better than "The exact boundary between X and Y is not agreed and the neighbour believes it is our responsibility to maintain the entire hedgerow and the stream," which is how things were when we started out.

Noneforit999

Surely a dispute is subjective anyway? What you think constitutes as dispute might differ to what I think. 

We have a house behind us that had loud several times over the summer until 1-2am so unacceptable. I once called 101 and 20 minutes later the music abruptly stopped and they haven't done it since. 

Am I mentioning that on the form? Not a chance. 

in_my_wellies

I think it depends on whether the problem would be on-going. 

I complained when my neighbours children (11 & 13) used my wheelbarrows for racing across my allotment. Not only damaging the barrows but also the crops. They then fed old apples from my compost heap to the horses in an adjoining field. When I pointed out the danger of these activities, both to the children and the horses, the mother accepted no responsibility and somehow implied it was my fault! 

These 'children' are now 31 & 33 so I doubt it will happen again so I wouldn't mention it to a buyer.

*I do have cameras now and could tell the buyer the colour and style of my neighbours nightwear as she mooches round my allotment at dawn but I think It'll be best to let them find out for themselves

TBagpuss

NameUnavailable said:

This thread is funny because when someone else posted a question about what they could do having bought a property and then finding out about a previous dispute the sellers had with the neighbour, the advice was 'what do you think you can do about it' or  'move on' or 'is it worth the legal cost to do anything' or 'sell up if you don't like it' etc. etc.

True, but they aren't mutually incompatible. As a buyer, it's not normally going to be worth the hassle of pursuing it, as a seller, it's sensible to minimise your risk and to ensure that you are in a position to just ignore any future complaints. 
 

Last time I sold, I declared the fact that there had been a dispute but also explicitly said (which was true) that it had been resolved and there had been no further issues. (harassment from a neighbour, who went very quiet after I spoke to the police community support and to their HA landlord. )

Sale went through with no problem and I didn't have to stress about my position if it happened again.

user1977

TBagpuss said:

NameUnavailable said:

This thread is funny because when someone else posted a question about what they could do having bought a property and then finding out about a previous dispute the sellers had with the neighbour, the advice was 'what do you think you can do about it' or  'move on' or 'is it worth the legal cost to do anything' or 'sell up if you don't like it' etc. etc.

True, but they aren't mutually incompatible. As a buyer, it's not normally going to be wroth the hassle of pursuing it, as a seller, it's sensible to minimise your risk and to ensyure that you are in a position to just ignore any future complaints. 

Indeed, there's quite a big grey area between "absolutely no legal rights being in play" and "having evidence and the economies of pursuing legal action being worthwhile".

But at the very least, sellers ought to understand what sort of things the questions actually cover, before they make a judgment call on whether they want to cross their fingers and take the risk of failing to disclose a dispute.