Issues post completion

Donna77

Hi,

I have completed on my new house 2 weeks ago and having issues already.  I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form.  I know they knew the tank was broken because the neighbours told me when they brought the house they negotiated on the price due to this issue and they never bothered to fix it.  On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  They have also left a Caravan in the garden which i specifically asked them to remove.

My solicitor is chasing their solicitor but as expected they have gone radio silent.  My question is... this is going to cost me several thousand pounds to correct and had i known i would not have paid the price i did or brought the house at all.  How long realistically do i have to wait for a response before i can force the issue and take legal action against them?

Thanks!

WIAWSNB

Why 'as expected'? Their solicitor should respond to yours, but it ain't instant.

What does your solicitor say about this? Hopefully that it's an 'open and shut case', and to be patient? 

sheramber

Donna77 said:

Hi,

I have completed on my new house 2 weeks ago and having issues already.  I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form.  I know they knew the tank was broken because the neighbours told me when they brought the house they negotiated on the price due to this issue and they never bothered to fix it.  On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  They have also left a Caravan in the garden which i specifically asked them to remove.

My solicitor is chasing their solicitor but as expected they have gone radio silent.  My question is... this is going to cost me several thousand pounds to correct and had i known i would not have paid the price i did or brought the house at all.  How long realistically do i have to wait for a response before i can force the issue and take legal action against them?

Thanks!

You had to notify your solicitor.

He had to write to seller’s solicitor.

Seller’s solicitor would have to write to their client.

Seller would have to reply to solicitor.

Their solicitor would then have to reply to your solicitor.

Allowing for  delays in sending letters/ replying and  postal times, how long do you think that will take?

Donna77

sheramber said:

Donna77 said:

Hi,

I have completed on my new house 2 weeks ago and having issues already.  I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form.  I know they knew the tank was broken because the neighbours told me when they brought the house they negotiated on the price due to this issue and they never bothered to fix it.  On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  They have also left a Caravan in the garden which i specifically asked them to remove.

My solicitor is chasing their solicitor but as expected they have gone radio silent.  My question is... this is going to cost me several thousand pounds to correct and had i known i would not have paid the price i did or brought the house at all.  How long realistically do i have to wait for a response before i can force the issue and take legal action against them?

Thanks!

You had to notify your solicitor.

He had to write to seller’s solicitor.

Seller’s solicitor would have to write to their client.

Seller would have to reply to solicitor.

Their solicitor would then have to reply to your solicitor.

Allowing for  delays in sending letters/ replying and  postal times, how long do you think that will take?

That's why i am asking...what's reasonable as i am involved in this process and suffering financial losses, i want a quick resolution so bias on time scale...and believe this should be a week at most.  It's been over that...even if they say bog off...at least that is something.  It's about managing expectations and doing everything correctly rather than going straight to the formal legal route.

Donna77

WIAWSNB said:

Why 'as expected'? Their solicitor should respond to yours, but it ain't instant.

What does your solicitor say about this? Hopefully that it's an 'open and shut case', and to be patient? 

Because all the solictors involved have dropped the ball at one point or another...and have taken weeks on things that should have taken days.  My solicitor missed the fact the cesspit isn't up to regulation and never passed the information they had onto me..so no way i could have known.

Their solicitor has acknowledged the complaint formally but says they haven't got a response/acknowledgement from their client.  My solicitor (well Conveyancer) says this is outside of his knowledge and will speak to a litigation solicitor for advice but generally hasn't a clue.

I believe it is an open and shut case...however their response will have influence on what i do.  I am having to get the immediate isssue resolved as it would case environmental damage.  As for the other issues, they need addressing but can wait till i know the outcome.  

I am not sure if i repair the probelms if i have come back or because the issue is repaired they can claim it's not as bad as i say?  It's a fine line.  Looking for realism..not miracles. 

RHemmings

Would the neighbours be prepared to give evidence that the sellers knew the septic tank was broken? If things get nasty, then it's important to have actual evidence. 

There are summaries of legal cases here: https://cunningtons.co.uk/property-misrepresentation-claims/ 

Finding their address may be more difficult. There are 'no trace no fee' address tracing agencies. As well as various databases that can be searched to find people. E.g.: https://nationwidetracing.co.uk/  They have prices from £30 + VAT, and they are 'no trace no fee'. I have never used this company and can't say if they are any good. On TrustPilot they only have eight reviews, all of which are either 5 stars, or 1 star. Some of the one star reviews are because someone was tracing an ex-wife or a daughter and the company won't provide information in those cases for reasons of safeguarding (they say, but it sounds reasonable to me.) 

Tabieth

Donna77 said:

sheramber said:

Donna77 said:

Hi,

I have completed on my new house 2 weeks ago and having issues already.  I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form.  I know they knew the tank was broken because the neighbours told me when they brought the house they negotiated on the price due to this issue and they never bothered to fix it.  On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  They have also left a Caravan in the garden which i specifically asked them to remove.

My solicitor is chasing their solicitor but as expected they have gone radio silent.  My question is... this is going to cost me several thousand pounds to correct and had i known i would not have paid the price i did or brought the house at all.  How long realistically do i have to wait for a response before i can force the issue and take legal action against them?

Thanks!

You had to notify your solicitor.

He had to write to seller’s solicitor.

Seller’s solicitor would have to write to their client.

Seller would have to reply to solicitor.

Their solicitor would then have to reply to your solicitor.

Allowing for  delays in sending letters/ replying and  postal times, how long do you think that will take?

That's why i am asking...what's reasonable as i am involved in this process and suffering financial losses, i want a quick resolution so bias on time scale...and believe this should be a week at most.  It's been over that...even if they say bog off...at least that is something.  It's about managing expectations and doing everything correctly rather than going straight to the formal legal route.

I don’t think a week is realistic for the questions to be asked, forwarded and any back and forth between the solicitors. No harm chasing your solicitor but I think you need to be more reasonable with your time scales. 

Good luck and I hope you get it resolved. 

Grumpy_chap

Donna77 said:

I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form. 
On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  

Donna77 said:

My solicitor missed the fact the cesspit isn't up to regulation and never passed the information they had onto me..so no way i could have known.

How would your Solicitor have known about deficiencies in the waste system?  What information did your Solicitor have that you did not have?

The Solicitor will most likely not have even visited the property, let alone inspect the waste system.

What information did your survey state regarding the waste system?

In what way is the waste system "not up to regulation"?
Is it like an electrical survey reporting "not up to latest regulations" but that does not mean there is a need to do anything to the system - any installation beyond a certain age will not comply with latest regulations.

sheramber

Donna77 said:

sheramber said:

Donna77 said:

Hi,

I have completed on my new house 2 weeks ago and having issues already.  I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form.  I know they knew the tank was broken because the neighbours told me when they brought the house they negotiated on the price due to this issue and they never bothered to fix it.  On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  They have also left a Caravan in the garden which i specifically asked them to remove.

My solicitor is chasing their solicitor but as expected they have gone radio silent.  My question is... this is going to cost me several thousand pounds to correct and had i known i would not have paid the price i did or brought the house at all.  How long realistically do i have to wait for a response before i can force the issue and take legal action against them?

Thanks!

You had to notify your solicitor.

He had to write to seller’s solicitor.

Seller’s solicitor would have to write to their client.

Seller would have to reply to solicitor.

Their solicitor would then have to reply to your solicitor.

Allowing for  delays in sending letters/ replying and  postal times, how long do you think that will take?

That's why i am asking...what's reasonable as i am involved in this process and suffering financial losses, i want a quick resolution so bias on time scale...and believe this should be a week at most.  It's been over that...even if they say bog off...at least that is something.  It's about managing expectations and doing everything correctly rather than going straight to the formal legal route.

Do you think the seller is going to drop everything and reply immediately?

 They may be on holiday and not have received the enquiry from their solicitor. 

user1977

In any event, the initial response from the seller's solicitor may simply be "we don't have instructions" - whether that's because their clients haven't replied, the solicitors aren't qualified to get into a dispute, or their clients haven't agreed to pay the additional fees any dispute would incur.

Donna77

Grumpy_chap said:

Donna77 said:

I have a septic tank and the original owners knew that it wasn't compliant and lied on the TA form. 
On the TA form they declare there are no known issues and subsequently on enquiries said everything flows fine...which it does not.  

Donna77 said:

My solicitor missed the fact the cesspit isn't up to regulation and never passed the information they had onto me..so no way i could have known.

How would your Solicitor have known about deficiencies in the waste system?  What information did your Solicitor have that you did not have?

The Solicitor will most likely not have even visited the property, let alone inspect the waste system.

What information did your survey state regarding the waste system?

In what way is the waste system "not up to regulation"?
Is it like an electrical survey reporting "not up to latest regulations" but that does not mean there is a need to do anything to the system - any installation beyond a certain age will not comply with latest regulations.

It was sold as a cesspit (which it is not) a completely contained system.  They were given the information of the size of the tank, which is severely undersized for the regulation of the building.  The property was extended and should have been brought up to standard as part of the building regs.  Also even if it wasn't part of the building regs...new regulations came in that all systems had to be updated and brought up to standards by 2020 and should not be sold until this is done.

We have since found out (due to immediate issuse with the tank) that it is in fact a septic tank...with a broken soak away.  They knew it was broken (i have proof) when they brought the house and negotiated on the price they paid because of it.  They did not fix the issue and declared it as working/fully functional when it was not.  Essentially lying on the TA form and subsequent enquiries in the conveyancing. So i am stuck with the bill to repair an issue they knew about and didn't fix...and was "illegal" because it goes against environmental standards and i could have been fined by the environmental agency if the tank leaked...which being undersized and a broken soak away was a very possibility.