Can I sue a vendor for misrepresentation of property sale

YBR

This is exactly why you get a survey done. 
Don't be grasping, you're very unlikely to win compensation. Just walk away.

Hedgepigs

Equally, if it was obvious enough for the vendor to know for certain it was there and be lying about it, surely you would have seen it before putting an offer in anyway?

That you didn't spot it on viewing probably makes it a difficult argument to say it was so obvious the vendor must have known.

BikingBud

pinkshoes said:

niallmckenna said:

Despite the vendor and EA having misled me on the TA6 form, and wasting my time and £4k in expenses by not being honest?

£4k in expenses?!?! This is rather high!

They may not have deliberately mislead you. The EA probably doesn't know anything. If the sale fell through 6 months previously (so in Jan/Feb) then the JKW would not have been easily visible and could have easily looked like some bamboo shoots, so it might not have been down to this, especially as the vendor was willing to start a treatment plan.

How far away is it from the house? I'd be negotiating a decent discount due to this, as you'll need to pay for ongoing treatment, and it might increase the cost of your home insurance.

What you need to do is formally inform the EA in writing that there is JKN present. That way they'll then need to notify any future buyer about it. 

Bamboo! Is that any better?

Fredw56

Walk away now. Put it down to bitter experience. 

F37A

niallmckenna said:

Despite the vendor and EA having misled me on the TA6 form, and wasting my time and £4k in expenses by not being honest?

totally empathise with how you feel. The property system is a joke in that they allowed to mess people about maximising stress, pain and misery. 

[Deleted User]

BikingBud said:

pinkshoes said:

niallmckenna said:

Despite the vendor and EA having misled me on the TA6 form, and wasting my time and £4k in expenses by not being honest?

£4k in expenses?!?! This is rather high!

They may not have deliberately mislead you. The EA probably doesn't know anything. If the sale fell through 6 months previously (so in Jan/Feb) then the JKW would not have been easily visible and could have easily looked like some bamboo shoots, so it might not have been down to this, especially as the vendor was willing to start a treatment plan.

How far away is it from the house? I'd be negotiating a decent discount due to this, as you'll need to pay for ongoing treatment, and it might increase the cost of your home insurance.

What you need to do is formally inform the EA in writing that there is JKN present. That way they'll then need to notify any future buyer about it. 

Bamboo! Is that any better?

Re bamboo, it might be, depends on the type of bamboo. 

propertyrental

Price markettd at?
Price agreed?
New price offered after discovery of JK?

Forget legal action /suing - it's a negotiation based on best information at present time/

Either seller will agree a price you propose and are happy to buy at, and you Exchange Contracts, or
Seller won't agree a price you propose and are happy to buy at, and you walk away.

Of course you also have to be happy with the treatment plan, though personally I'd want to manage that myself and adjust the purchase price to cover my treatment plan.

eddddy

niallmckenna said:

Further to this, a previous sale on the property had fallen through 6 months previously (EA yet to clarify why). 

Depending on the precise details, it's possible that the estate agent has....

• committed an offence under 'The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008'

• breached the Property Ombudsman's Code of Practice (if an EA is a member of that scheme)

If the seller is a private individual, then neither of the above would apply to them - but if the vendor is a business, the Consumer Protection laws apply to them.

But regarding the estate agent, the Property Ombudsman's code of practice mandates...

7i.. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 require you to disclose any information of which you are aware or should be aware of in relation to the property in a clear, intelligible and timely fashion and to take all reasonable steps to ensure that all statements that you make about a property, whether oral, pictorial or written, are accurate and are not misleading.

All material information  must be disclosed and there must be no material omissions which may impact on the average consumer’s transactional decision. Where information is given to consumers and/or their representatives, it must be accurate and not misleading

Link: https://www.tpos.co.uk/images/codes-of-practice/TPOE27-8_Code_of_Practice_for_Residential_Estate_Agents_A4_FINAL.pdf

So, for example, if the estate agent failed to tell you material information about why the previous sale fell through - and your sale falls through for the same reason - you could potentially complain to the ombudsman, and ask the agent to pay you damages.

CSI_Yorkshire

eddddy said:

niallmckenna said:

Further to this, a previous sale on the property had fallen through 6 months previously (EA yet to clarify why). 

So, for example, if the estate agent failed to tell you material information about why the previous sale fell through - and your sale falls through for the same reason - you could potentially complain to the ombudsman, and ask the agent to pay you damages.

If they're stupid enough to say "it was due to JK but we decided not to tell you about it".

If you can't prove that (on balance of probabilities) they knew and failed to tell you, you might be p*ssing in the wind.

[Deleted User]

You could try Facebook or the local paper. Ask for people who pulled out on the property to come forward and tell you why.