House sale but now threatened with legal action.

The_Original_Red1

theartfullodger said:

The_Original_Red1 said:

Hi all just wondering if anyone could give us any advice ?. So basically my mother in law inherited a house in a will she wasn't told nothing about the property so she sold it through an estate agent as she already has a home. So now the buyer is threatening her with taking her to court after owning the property for four years over flooding in the garden. What should we do ?

Mother in Law (not you) should talk to solicitor... or citizens advice.  Unless you have authority to act on her behalf

Thank you we will get in touch with our solicitor as to be fair it's making her ill with worry as she told the buyer everything she knew and put it on the forms when selling the property.

MeteredOut

The_Original_Red1 said:

RAS said:

So mother in law would have known if the garden flooded?

And these are verbal threats?

What did she reply on the TA6 form? 

Yes she would've known as she has lived there for over 20years and never seen any flooding. On the Ta6 form she put there was nothing wrong with the property as the previous owner never had any problems.And as for the threats the person keeps coming round saying she is at fault and threatening legal action against her. The mother in law told her that she knows nothing of any problems before she inherited it but she keeps on coming round with her mother daily.

Now might be the time for you MiL to start logging the visits and to tell the other party that if they come to her door again, she'll be contacting the police with a harassment claim. And tell them to start legal action if they want.

The_Original_Red1

Mark_d said:

Don't do anything.  Presumably your mother completed forms, during the conveyancing process, to the best of her knowledge.  Your mother-in-law can't be held responsible because the buyer failed to do adequate checks on what he was buying.

Yes Mother in law  filled all forms accurate and to the best of her knowledge. 

RAS

Ask MIL if she would like an Ring or similar installing and setting up to record these visits? She'd need to work out where to stand capture the neighbour.

She still needs to go back and check, not what she thinks she "said", but exactly what she put on the TA6. 

Maybe even get a copy, refer to that when the neighbour comes round, and hand her a copy?

And keep a diary of every visit about the flooding.

The_Original_Red1

MeteredOut said:

The_Original_Red1 said:

RAS said:

So mother in law would have known if the garden flooded?

And these are verbal threats?

What did she reply on the TA6 form? 

Yes she would've known as she has lived there for over 20years and never seen any flooding. On the Ta6 form she put there was nothing wrong with the property as the previous owner never had any problems.And as for the threats the person keeps coming round saying she is at fault and threatening legal action against her. The mother in law told her that she knows nothing of any problems before she inherited it but she keeps on coming round with her mother daily.

Now might be the time for you MiL to start logging the visits and to tell the other party that if they come to her door again, she'll be contacting the police with a harassment claim. And tell them to start legal action if they want.

Thank you Milaw previously told her to take her to court but she keeps coming round so the police will be the next part of call.

Neil49

Given that it has taken 4 years for the flooding to become an issue it could be argued that it has been caused by other unknown factors such as new housing developments, blocked or collapsed drains or excess rain due to global warming.

The buyer is looking for a way out. Get a solicitor involved and refuse to discuss it with the buyer. 

dkcrooby

I'd also get a camera for the front door so her visits can be recorded.

The_Original_Red1

RAS said:

Ask MIL if she would like an Ring or similar installing and setting up to record these visits? She'd need to work out where to stand capture the neighbour.

She still needs to go back and check, not what she thinks she "said", but exactly what she put on the TA6. 

Maybe even get a copy, refer to that when the neighbour comes round, and hand her a copy?

And keep a diary of every visit about the flooding.

We will get in touch with solicitors to make sure what was put on the forms but like MiL says she knew nothing but will check

The_Original_Red1

dkcrooby said:

I'd also get a camera for the front door so her visits can be recorded.

100% will get one but she has been over 10 times already 

The_Original_Red1

Neil49 said:

Given that it has taken 4 years for the flooding to become an issue it could be argued that it has been caused by other unknown factors such as new housing developments, blocked or collapsed drains or excess rain due to global warming.

The buyer is looking for a way out. Get a solicitor involved and refuse to discuss it with the buyer. 

Neil49 said:

Given that it has taken 4 years for the flooding to become an issue it could be argued that it has been caused by other unknown factors such as new housing developments, blocked or collapsed drains or excess rain due to global warming.

The buyer is looking for a way out. Get a solicitor involved and refuse to discuss it with the buyer. 

As we know over time things change with old drainage systems. We live in the same area and we had a drainage problem and were told that the water company are eventually going to have to destroy our driveway due to collapsing drainage.