Keys not given at time of completion?

user1977

born_again said:

lisyloo said:

i don’t know - but to the floor - is there any route via the bank for a fraudulent transfer as this is essentially a con.
i suspect not but worth asking the question.

Mortgage company need to know & should have been informed as soon as this was known. Same with solicitor. They could have stopped the completion & possibly the funds being recalled.

Nobody can recall the funds once completion has happened.

peterhjohnson

sevenhills said:

user1977 said:

Yes, but the house isn't empty. That's the problem, not whether or not the buyer happens to have a set of keys.

So what did the solicitor say when the documents were signed, there are no keys, but sign and we will get the locksmith round?
The estate agent has the keys?
If you were buying a car, would you hànd over the money without the keys?

Perhaps you've never bought a house yourself? The selling EA usually has held onto keys after conducting the viewings. Buyer (and seller) sign all the paperwork before completion day. On completion day, the solicitors do their work (including transferring money) and tell their clients and Estate Agents that completion has occurred. The buyer then visits the seller's EA and collects the keys

Brie

Assuming the purchasers have a mortgage I wonder if the bank knows they are renting their house.  I also wonder if they are getting any rent from the tenants or if the tenants are still paying the previous owner.

sevenhills

Ath_Wat said:

No, but I would buy a house without the keys.  The keys are irrelevant.  Keys can be lost or broken. There could be 20 people wandering round with sets of keys.

Which is why I said the OP is not telling us everything. That is because he is posting about a friend's situation.

Adezoo

sevenhills said:

Ath_Wat said:

No, but I would buy a house without the keys.  The keys are irrelevant.  Keys can be lost or broken. There could be 20 people wandering round with sets of keys.

Which is why I said the OP is not telling us everything. That is because he is posting about a friend's situation.

Rest your case, tell me what I didn’t say? 

lisyloo

Adezoo said:

sevenhills said:

Ath_Wat said:

No, but I would buy a house without the keys.  The keys are irrelevant.  Keys can be lost or broken. There could be 20 people wandering round with sets of keys.

Which is why I said the OP is not telling us everything. That is because he is posting about a friend's situation.

Rest your case, tell me what I didn’t say? 

There are some very pertinent questions still not answered

. have your friends notified the tenants of the sale?
. are they aware they have legal responsibilities some of which are life and death (I’m referring to carbon monoxide). This is not their fault but they cannot continue to hope that someone else will sort this situation out for them.
. have they checked whether they have legal insurance cover - 10 mins job which could be incredibly valuable. That is something that could be done right now.
. do they know for a fact that the tenants won’t move and that a lengthy eviction process is inevitable? Have they checked this independently of the seller?

I think there were other questions as well.

Alderbank

Do the occupants have an active tenancy agreement? If so it should have been given to your friends via the solicitors.

Are they legally tenants? not all occupiers are tenants. If they are excluded occupiers they do not have the same rights as tenants.
Which country is this? Housing and property laws differ in England and Scotland.

Apologies if these have been answered already. I am finding it difficult to keep up.

user1977

Alderbank said:

Which country is this? Housing and property laws differ in England and Scotland.

I've already pointed out it's not Scotland (wouldn't be called "probate" here for a start).

Ath_Wat

sevenhills said:

Ath_Wat said:

No, but I would buy a house without the keys.  The keys are irrelevant.  Keys can be lost or broken. There could be 20 people wandering round with sets of keys.

Which is why I said the OP is not telling us everything. That is because he is posting about a friend's situation.

I don't see how that is relevant to having or not having the keys.

Having the keys confers no rights.  Once the house is yours and unoccupied you can enter it with keys or break the door down, both perfectly legally.  Once the house is yours but still occupied you can't enter with the keys or in any other way.  I'd buy a house without keys without batting an eyelid.  Keys are meaningless.

Brie

I will agree that having keys is not relevant.  I would suggest a locksmith rather than a battering ram to enter though if only to lessen the damage being done.  Either way it may be a shock to the tenants who may not even know the house has actually been sold.  

Would it be legal to enter a house occupied by tenants without giving any notice if one knows they are there?  It's not an emergency.