Found out house at risk of repossession 4 months after offer accepted

RHemmings

It sounds to me as if you can afford to be a bit more pro-active about setting the timeline yourself. If the sale ends up falling through, then the seller will have to start all over again. Why don't you suggest a timeline suitable for yourself? You could include caveats such as having the answer for all queries etc. 

Bonniepurple

Reading your update, I would be wondering how much you want this house, given that the vendor appears to be wanting to hurry the process along by lying.  As I understand it, 4 months ago the property was tenanted.  You made an offer. The enquiries have thrown up that there are outstanding debts to the management company. The tenants left a couple of weeks ago.  The vendor then tried to hurry completion by claiming repossession was imminent.  So, either the tenants didn’t pay (were they evicted or did they leave of their own accord) or the vendor is panicking big time and may end up increasing the price at the last minute.

Grumpy_chap

The OP needs to ignore whatever the EA says - at the very best the EA has and is passing on inconsistent or incomplete information.

The OP should deal with everything via their Conveyancing Solicitor and maintain only the single channel of communications.  Advise the EA that is what will happen from now on.

This seems like an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and for the OP to take ownership of the process.  If I was the OP, I would write (email) my Conveyancing Solicitor along the lines of:
"We understand that the Vendor is keen to progress the Exchange and Completion in a timely fashion.  We are also keen to progress in a timely, but orderly, fashion.  We are not able to progress until all queries asked of the Vendor have been addressed and all due diligence completed.  We are aware of the following matters <LIST> on which responses are awaited from the Vendor.  As our professional advisor, are there any other outstanding matters of which we need to be aware.  Agreement of the timeline has to be mutual between us and the Vendor and, as per the above, the Vendor is currently in control of the schedule.  Can the Vendor confirm when they will be able to address all outstanding queries?"

RAS

I'd also ask your solicitor to ask the vendor's solicitor to confirm that the price accepted will pay off the mortgage provider's first charge, any second charges and the outstanding  estate management fees. 

And for your solicitor to confirm that they can ensure that estate management fees are paid before you buy.

Hoenir

Grumpy_chap said:

The OP needs to ignore whatever the EA says - at the very best the EA has and is passing on inconsistent or incomplete information.

Earlier in this thread the EA was being crucified for withholding information !  The EA has to relay on what the vendor's say to them. People lie. There's no great surprise in that.  Anything that involves money or personal inconvenience in property transactions tends to bring out the worst in people. 

buddy2024

Update... we surpassed the supposed repossession deadline and funnily enough the house was not repossessed. We suggested a timeline for the seller for all enquiries to be completed and us giving rental notice etc, or if the seller wanted a quick sale within the next week we said he can negotiate the price. We received an email from the estate agent today which said "unfortunately the seller has decided to no longer sell the property and is removing the property from the market". We think this is either a bluff or he was never at risk of repossession in the first place.

Herzlos

It could be a bullet dodged either way!

RHemmings

buddy2024 said:

Update... we surpassed the supposed repossession deadline and funnily enough the house was not repossessed. We suggested a timeline for the seller for all enquiries to be completed and us giving rental notice etc, or if the seller wanted a quick sale within the next week we said he can negotiate the price. We received an email from the estate agent today which said "unfortunately the seller has decided to no longer sell the property and is removing the property from the market". We think this is either a bluff or he was never at risk of repossession in the first place.

Well, one thing that you do know is that seller is a BS artist. Good luck in finding a nice house with a reasonable seller. 

Albermarle

buddy2024 said:

Update... we surpassed the supposed repossession deadline and funnily enough the house was not repossessed. We suggested a timeline for the seller for all enquiries to be completed and us giving rental notice etc, or if the seller wanted a quick sale within the next week we said he can negotiate the price. We received an email from the estate agent today which said "unfortunately the seller has decided to no longer sell the property and is removing the property from the market". We think this is either a bluff or he was never at risk of repossession in the first place.

As with any business deal, you are never quite sure what is really going on with the other side.
Could be a myriad of reasons. Time to move on. 

ReadySteadyPop

RHemmings said:

buddy2024 said:

Update... we surpassed the supposed repossession deadline and funnily enough the house was not repossessed. We suggested a timeline for the seller for all enquiries to be completed and us giving rental notice etc, or if the seller wanted a quick sale within the next week we said he can negotiate the price. We received an email from the estate agent today which said "unfortunately the seller has decided to no longer sell the property and is removing the property from the market". We think this is either a bluff or he was never at risk of repossession in the first place.

Well, one thing that you do know is that seller is a BS artist. Good luck in finding a nice house with a reasonable seller. 

 Sounds like a lucky escape.