Seller under threat of repossession, refuses to move forward on sale

Blue_Boston

Wes121708 said:

The lendor may be delaying repossession if there is already a sale in place to save on unnecessary costs in applying for a possession order, if they don't have one already. They may want updates from the seller every two weeks to check progress and if not progressing, continue with litigation action.
Do you know if a possession order has already been granted? The vendors solicitor will know if they are providing the updates to the lender.
Or the lender may be assisting a sale instead of repossession.

AFAIK there isn't a possession order in place yet. There aren't any CCJs under the vendors name and nothing is mentioned on the title. I think the lender has been giving the vendor over a year to get their finances in order and sell.

Blue_Boston

CosmicDaisy said:

I think I'd be walking away from this one. Far too much drama and delaying from a vendor who clearly doesn't want to sell and probably feels pressurised by the family into doing so. It doesn't sound worth the hassle waiting any longer. Perhaps just tell them you are pulling out to see if it forces their hand?

If I pull out or adjust my offer I can't claim my home buyers insurance for the survey, searches etc.

I'm not really sure how the seller would respond to ultimatums if the threat of repossession doesn't do anything for them.

CosmicDaisy

Blue_Boston said:

CosmicDaisy said:

I think I'd be walking away from this one. Far too much drama and delaying from a vendor who clearly doesn't want to sell and probably feels pressurised by the family into doing so. It doesn't sound worth the hassle waiting any longer. Perhaps just tell them you are pulling out to see if it forces their hand?

If I pull out or adjust my offer I can't claim my home buyers insurance for the survey, searches etc.

I'm not really sure how the seller would respond to ultimatums if the threat of repossession doesn't do anything for them.

Sometimes you just lose money on searches etc unfortunately. This looks like it could be one of those times. I would still be considering if this vendor is really worth the hassle. 

CosmicDaisy

Blue_Boston said:

Wes121708 said:

The lendor may be delaying repossession if there is already a sale in place to save on unnecessary costs in applying for a possession order, if they don't have one already. They may want updates from the seller every two weeks to check progress and if not progressing, continue with litigation action.
Do you know if a possession order has already been granted? The vendors solicitor will know if they are providing the updates to the lender.
Or the lender may be assisting a sale instead of repossession.

AFAIK there isn't a possession order in place yet. There aren't any CCJs under the vendors name and nothing is mentioned on the title. I think the lender has been giving the vendor over a year to get their finances in order and sell.

I would imagine it is quite unusual for a lender to be this patient with an uncooperative vendor, especially where there is little indication of progress.

RAS

Based on other posts on MSE, 18-24 month complete non-payment is not unusual before repossession and sometimes 3 years.

Albermarle

Blue_Boston said:

CosmicDaisy said:

I think I'd be walking away from this one. Far too much drama and delaying from a vendor who clearly doesn't want to sell and probably feels pressurised by the family into doing so. It doesn't sound worth the hassle waiting any longer. Perhaps just tell them you are pulling out to see if it forces their hand?

If I pull out or adjust my offer I can't claim my home buyers insurance for the survey, searches etc.

I'm not really sure how the seller would respond to ultimatums if the threat of repossession doesn't do anything for them.

Presumably the more the property sells for, the better financial position the vendor will be in going forward.
Probably your conventional offer will result in more cash/less debt for the vendor, than if the lender repossesses it and sells it ( maybe at auction) .
Maybe this could be an incentive for them to progress the sale to you, although quite probably they have not thought it through that far. Maybe something the EA can point out to them.

Herzlos

It's certainly worth making sure the vendor knows that it'll be much cheaper for them to sell the house than it will be to get repossessed and evicted.

Failing that, you can always give them a deadline before you pull out. Because if it gets repossessed you stand a good chance of having to start over again anyway.

CosmicDaisy

RAS said:

Based on other posts on MSE, 18-24 month complete non-payment is not unusual before repossession and sometimes 3 years.

This does surprise me? 

ReadingTim

Blue_Boston said:

If I pull out or adjust my offer I can't claim my home buyers insurance for the survey, searches etc.

I'm not really sure how the seller would respond to ultimatums if the threat of repossession doesn't do anything for them.

They won't - sounds like they're in complete denial about the reality of their situation, and it's one where you don't really have any leverage.  The only thing you can do it to ensure you don't throw good money after bad and spend any more than you already have, as that amount is already lost.  

RHemmings

If the OP has already done their due diligence on the property, if it then gets repossessed and sold again, wouldn't that put the OP in a good position to buy it? As they will have superior knowledge compared to the other people bidding.