Seller lied on house sales forms. We need to prove she has assets so we can take her to court.

Grizebeck

Why not just issue your own claim and crack on.

Section62

PinkCristal said:

bobster2 said:

....
Regarding the disputes with our neighbour, this has impacted us financially. One example, his fence bordering our garden fell down and he refused to repair it, which meant our dog could easily escape. So we ended up paying for a new fence ourselves. There are sharp kerb stones on the narrow shared drive which have damaged our car tyres and we've paid out for replacements.  The kerb stones were installed by our neighbour to stop large vehicles (eg 4x4s) belonging to relatives of the seller easily accessing her property. There are several other similar issues which have cost us financially.

As TIW said - your dog, your responsibility to keep it under control. Unless the neighbour's deeds specify they must provide and maintain a [dog-proof] fence they don't have to fence the boundary to keep your dog out of their property.

What kind of shared drive is it?  Is the width of the shared area specified, and do the kerbstones encroach into the area you have a right to use?

TBH I think you would have a problem with the tyre damage claim unless the neighbour has done something extreme like embedding nails or razor blades in them.  Vehicle tyres are designed to deal with hitting 'sharp' objects up to a certain limit.  Tyres might get damaged if they hit a 'sharp' kerb at speed, but at slower speeds (e.g. that which would be appropriate on a shared driveway) the object would need to be very sharp to damage one tyre, let alone "tyres".

Ultimately the driver has much of the responsibility for avoiding damage to their own vehicle - if the driver knew there were 'sharp' kerbstones on the edge of the drive then they should take greater care to avoid damaging them.  Perhaps if the kerbstones appeared suddenly while you were out and the first you knew was when you hit one on coming home.... but you say these were installed over an issue with the vendor, so have been there through your whole ownership?

If the 'shared drive' arrangement is such that the kerbstones are on land the neighbour owns and you/the vendor have no right to be driving on that land then it is difficult to see what the problem is - the vendor/you don't have a right to be on that land, and the owner of the land has the right to kerb it in a way that prevents unauthorised use - provided what they do isn't dangerous.

ThisIsWeird said:

The sharp kerb stones do sound as tho' they could be actionable, if they restrict the width of the shared drive, or cause unreasonable impediment. In which case, your action would be against the neighbour. However, if you can evidence that the neighbour deliberately and intentionally installed these stones in order to snub your vendor, then that would clearly be a 'dispute', or a matter likely to lead to such, both of which your vendor should have made you aware of. So, yes, another goodie to tackle the vendor on.

If the neighbour installed the kerbstones to stop the vendor driving onto land they had no right to use, and the vendor then stopped driving on that area, then I'm not sure there would still be a dispute?

It could also be counterproductive to raise the issue and make it into an ongoing dispute.  If the OP wants to sell before the neighbour, they would then have to declare the dispute to any prospective buyer, and deal with the negative issues possibly resulting.  It might be tactically better to remain on good terms with the neighbour (especially if they have done nothing wrong) rather than creating another enemy.

Being at war with the vendor, the surveyor, and the neighbour would leave the OP without many others on their own side.

PinkCristal

Thanks for your message.

We are not planning to raise a dispute with our neighbour. He just makes our lives difficult. The drive is shared maintenance. When he hears a hedge trimmer, for example, he'll come down to see what's being done, but in 3 years has done absolutely nothing to maintain the drive himself. We make every effort to stay on good terms with him. But we feel angry that the vendor had many disputes with him, which ultimately led to legal action and a court case, and yet on the house sales form she said there had never been a dispute with the neighbour. We have written proof of very serious disputes as we have copies of the legal paperwork. If we take action against the vendor for misrepresentation in respect of the flooding, we would use the legal paperwork relating to the dispute with the neighbour to demonstrate the dishonest character of the vendor. 

Could you tell me what "OP" means please? Sorry, I should probably know, but I can't figure it out!

Thank you for your help.

user1977

PinkCristal said:

Could you tell me what "OP" means please? Sorry, I should probably know, but I can't figure it out!

"Original Poster" i.e. you.

As flagged on your replies:

PinkCristal

ThisIsWeird said:

PinkCristal said:

The wording on the questionnaire was "has there ever been flooding in or around the property?" We believe the water ingress we had constituted flooding because we were literally paddling in it. There was no water visibly coming through the ceiling or running down the walls, it seemed to just appear on the tiled floor. It covered the whole of the floor and came up over our feet. We think it must have risen up through the floor somehow. I don't know if the water levels rose immediately outside, as we were too busy moving furniture and possessions out of the garden room to protect them. Our proof that the flooding in that room has happened several times before comes from a tenant who previously rented our home from the lady who sold it to us. This tenant told us that the room flooded several times in the 7 months she was there, and the seller ignored her requests to sort out the problem. The tenant's young son had his bedroom in the garden room, and the tenant had to move his bedroom into another room in the house because of the flooding. The tenant's husband dug drainage to try to solve the problem but that didn't work. Eventually the tenant had to move out because she couldn't tolerate the situation and she cut short her 12 month contract. This tenant has sent us photos and a written statement, and has offered to attend court as a witness if necessary.

Regarding the disputes with our neighbour, this has impacted us financially. One example, his fence bordering our garden fell down and he refused to repair it, which meant our dog could easily escape. So we ended up paying for a new fence ourselves. There are sharp kerb stones on the narrow shared drive which have damaged our car tyres and we've paid out for replacements.  The kerb stones were installed by our neighbour to stop large vehicles (eg 4x4s) belonging to relatives of the seller easily accessing her property. There are several other similar issues which have cost us financially.

Hi PC.

I'd recommend choosing your battles carefully. The biggest issue here would appear to be the flooding, and based on what you have told us, you appear to have a solid case, along with a perfect witness. So, good luck to you with this.

The fence is likely to be a different matter entirely, as the situation with these physical boundaries is that there is often no legal requirement to have one. If the fence in question is your neighbour's - ie, just on their side of the boundary line, and with 'responsibility' for it stated in their - and your - deeds, then all the neighbour usually 'needs' to do is to plant a few posts and string a wire between them. If you have a dog that needs to be kept secure in your garden, then I'm afraid that's your responsibility only. The neighbour would have liability if they, for example, took down the fence without warning, and knowing it could allow your dog to escape, but that is not what's happened; this fence was old, and fell down. In which case, you'd now need to secure your boundary instead, to keep in your dawg, and that is what you did. No claim there.

The sharp kerb stones do sound as tho' they could be actionable, if they restrict the width of the shared drive, or cause unreasonable impediment. In which case, your action would be against the neighbour. However, if you can evidence that the neighbour deliberately and intentionally installed these stones in order to snub your vendor, then that would clearly be a 'dispute', or a matter likely to lead to such, both of which your vendor should have made you aware of. So, yes, another goodie to tackle the vendor on. Not quite sure for what penalty, tho' - I guess for the legal costs of pursuing the case against your neighbour?

Read through your LegPro docs carefully; I've seen that some policies allow you to choose a specialist litigator if needed, if their own in-house solicitors don't have enough experience in the area concerned. For instance, if the fence situation is exactly as you have described, then they should have pointed out that you'd be unlikely to have a successful case there (based on what you have told us).

And this whole needing to prove the 3rd party has enough assets before they act is a weird one too, afaIk. Your LP's job is to take on 50+% 'winnable' cases, on the basis that they can then claim their costs from the other party. But recouping these costs should be part of their deal to carry out.

Thank you for your help.

Yes I agree we need to choose our battles carefully. We don't plan on taking any action against our neighbour. We make the best of a difficult situation and just try to get on and keep the peace, even though he makes life difficult. We're just angry that, despite us having copies of legal paperwork where the vendor and the neighbour had serious disputes which ended up in court, the vendor felt it acceptable to say on the house sales form that there had never been a dispute with the neighbour! So if we take action against the vendor for misrepresentation relating to the flooding, we would use the legal paperwork about the dispute with the neighbour to demonstrate the dishonest character of the vendor.

PinkCristal

user1977 said:

PinkCristal said:

Could you tell me what "OP" means please? Sorry, I should probably know, but I can't figure it out!

"Original Poster" i.e. you.

As flagged on your replies:

Ahhhh! Thank you

ThisIsWeird

PinkCristal said:

Thank you for your help.
Yes I agree we need to choose our battles carefully. We don't plan on taking any action against our neighbour. We make the best of a difficult situation and just try to get on and keep the peace, even though he makes life difficult. We're just angry that, despite us having copies of legal paperwork where the vendor and the neighbour had serious disputes which ended up in court, the vendor felt it acceptable to say on the house sales form that there had never been a dispute with the neighbour! So if we take action against the vendor for misrepresentation relating to the flooding, we would use the legal paperwork about the dispute with the neighbour to demonstrate the dishonest character of the vendor.

You are welcome, and I sincerely wish you luck - folk get away with such things on an industrial scale, and it's mainly the lack of evidence that scuppers the new owner. You have a pretty serious issue there, compounded by the unhelpful attitude of your neighbour, so really worth pursuing, imo. I would.

You appear to be on solid - if slightly soggy - ground with your case, and as you say, the additional evidence about these neighbourly disputes should help your main case against your vendor, demonstrating clearly that they have lied through their stinking teeth (the correct legal term).

Your main hurdle appears to be your reluctant LegProt, so you may need to turn the screws on them a bit, contacting their ombudsman for guidance if needed.

I'd only pursue the 'flooding' issue, as it is pretty concrete. The 'neighbour-dispute' is there as further evidence of the vendor's duplicity. The 'fence' is not an issue at all - currently.

Moving forward with your neighbour, I'd set up a CCTV camera to cover your frontage - even the 'doorbell' kind will do - able to record any conversations you may have with them. If the drive is shared, you may need to angle it to only video-catch the immediate outside-your-door area. Then you behave impeccably from now on - as I imagine you have until now :-)

But, you do challenge - politely - any unacceptable behaviour, and escalate it should it be worthy. If they are acting unreasonably, then note it all done, and do not allow it to impinge on your enjoyment of your home.