Vendor's left rubbish

leeparker123

Hi All,

I need some advice. My mom has just purchaced a house, completed and exchanged today. I've just popped over, and the place is a mess. The vendor has left an over-flowed skip with junk, and most rooms in the house contain junk.

The loft space is non-existant due to the rubbish and the garden shed is full.

Can anyone advise on the legal position that my mom has?

I've suggested that I call the estate agents tomorrow - which I shall, but I could do with some hard-hitting legal jargon

Thanks for taking the time to read / reply

Doozergirl

Your mum needs to speak to her solicitor. Unless specified as remaining in the house on the fixtures and fittings list, the vendor is still responsible for the junk. You can charge them for the cost of removing it all, I'm sure.

Solicitor, tomorrow, call!

sooz

yes, check your agreement. i think it should state that offer them , in writing, 7 days to remove items, or you remove them at their cost [that's for end of tenancies, should be some similar clause for buying]

RiskAdverse100

In most sale contracts there will be a standard clause that says that any items which are in the property and set out on any attached list are included in the sale price.

Sellers normally complete a Fixtures, Fittings and Contents List which sets out whether a number of specified items are included in the sale price or excluded.

If an item is marked as excluded it will be removed by the Seller before completion takes place unless they separately agree to sell it to the Buyers for an additional sum.

A copy of the FFC List is normally attached to the sale contract.

However, it does not follow that just because the FFC List does not have a 'rubbish' heading that any rubbish in the property has to be removed prior to completion. Most Sellers are considerate people and wouldn't dream of leaving behind a loft full of rubbish and a load of broken furniture. There are some, though, that are not so considerate.

'Vacant Possession' is a much misunderstood phrase. If a property is sold with vacant possession it means that, on completion, the Seller and any other occupiers that are not owners will vacate. If a property is not sold with vacant possession it is usually because it is an investment property and you a buying it with a tenant already there.

If you agree to sell a property with vacant possession it does not mean that the property will be empty of its contents, apart from those listed on any FFC List as being included in the sale.

Sensible solicitors will therefore include in their additional enquiries something along the lines of:

'Please confirm that any rubbish and any items that are not included in the sale price will be removed from the property before completion'.

While this will not in itself ensure that all rubbish is removed it does mean that a remedy may be available to buyers if it is not complied with.

If on completion a lot of rubbish needs to be cleared - and buyers do have to be realistic as no property is ever left completely empty - then the Buyers need to get in touch with the Sellers via the agents and their solicitors.

The Sellers need to be told that, because they confirmed before exchange took place that the property would not be full of rubbish on completion and it was on the basis of this reply that the Buyers agreed to go ahead, the Buyers will expect to be reimbursed for all costs that they incur clearing the property of specified contents. If the Sellers do not agree to pay these then the Buyers will sue for them in the small claims court.

In some cases this resolves the problem.

If the Sellers can't be contacted then the Buyers need to think carefully what to do next. They can try and sue for the costs with no guarantee that they will recover anything or just accept that they are going to have to clear the rubbish themselves. I suppose it will to a large extend depend on exactly how much rubbish and junk there is and how much it is going to cost to remove it.

RiskAdverse100

theGrinch

a property should be given up with vacant possession, which apart from fixtures and fittings should be clear of people and junk.

Norma_Desmond

I'd send the vendors a nice little card thanking them profusely for leaving that lovely little antique painting/bronze statue/Chippendale chair.......and that your Mum is going to watch it being auctioned at Sotheby's next month!

kjl26

The same thing happened to us on Friday when we finally completed on our new flat - kitchen cupboards overflowing with out of date food, pots and pans, even the vendor's sopping flannel in the bathroom... The cellar was full of all the junk he had expressly said would be gone when we got there, and the rooms still contained furniture he'd tried to sell us that we had asked him to remove.

Anyhow our solicitor said it was unacceptable and breach of contract (apparently they see it a lot with probate sales) and that what they usually do is get a couple of removal/clearance quotes from the Yellow Pages, call the vendor's solicitor and ask for a settlement figure and use the quotes as backup. We've successfully settled with our vendor in this way, no problem (and actually salvaged a couple of quite nice items into the bargain...).

Good luck with it.

Jet

I had this happen to me. I had a feeling they were going to try and leave their rubbish in the house as I knew they had already moved hundreds of miles away and had left the property empty, taking with them the furniture they wanted and leaving the rest.

I was in the lucky position of renting and simply refused to complete until they emptied the house. They had the audacity to say that they thought I might want their stuff! If it was any good they would have taken it with them.

Anyway, when I finally got the keys, I found that they had left one shed full of rubbish and the loft was choc a bloc.

I've owned the house for 2 and half years and the loft is still full of their rubbish! Looking back I should have got my solicitor involved but at the time their seemed so many other things to worry about (I'd just separated from my husband).

black-saturn

When I bought this house it was agreed that the vendor would be leaving some furniture behind as he was downsizing. However, when I moved in there was junk all over the place. Both the bedrooms were full of stuff like bricks, bags of cement, rotting wood, old tins of paint. The garden just had a path which you could just about walk down inbetween the junk. There was even a broken old wall unit in the garden and a shopping trolley full of black bags with something horrible in. I contacted the estate agent about it who wouldnt let me have the vendors new phone number as it was confidential. All I had was a mobile number which was never answered.

I managed to clear it all into the garden and sold a few of the things on ebay (like an old wartime radio, a really old phone and an old alarm clock) and then I paid a garden clearance firm £45 to clear the garden.