Livid that chain is demanding £750!

[H0neyBee]

I'm beyond cross - we are due to move house in less than 4 weeks and a couple who are two links up the chain have now changed their mind about the house they want to buy and switched to one which isn't ready on the completion date. They are demanding that the whole chain delays completion for 2 weeks (impossible), or that 4 of us all contribute £750 to their costs of hotel and storage for 2 weeks. That would be us, my vendors, themselves and the current owners of their new house, all paying to make £3000 total.

I'm furious, we don't know this couple at all, as they're neither our buyer nor vendor, and I feel this is blackmail. Their costs are no fault of any part of the chain, they have simply made a decision to switch houses. Our part of the chain was pre-existing and had the move date agreed since March, and they accepted the offer knowing that date was fixed - yet suddenly they want to change plans and bill us all.

Currently we are refusing to pay and the estate agents are negotiating, but unfortunately we haven't yet exchanged contracts so our options are rather limited. We really can't afford to have this chain collapse. Any suggestions? I will certainly be asking for receipts etc as I am not paying for these idiots to stay in a posh hotel for 2 weeks. We all have our own moving costs and other costs too, this is a big chunk of the money I had saved for our new boiler! Grrrr... TIA for any ideas.

[Spickle]

I just wrote on your other thread.

Do not engage with this. It is nothing to do with the EA. These people chose to buy another property (their choice) and the chain will be ready when all matters have been satisfactorily dealt with. While you may have agreed a completion date in March, that's not how it works. If one of the properties had a problem with e.g. the title etc, then it would take longer to sort out with Land Registry, so your supposed completion date would mean nothing (unless you're in Scotland??). People don't compensate for minor delays, it happens all the time. Presumably, they are "willing" to break the chain for a price to make it easier for the rest of you who are ready. But it was them changing their minds over which property they were buying that caused their own delay in the first place.

Refer it to your solicitor and then he can tell their solicitor that you are not compensating them for their own delay. That way, it becomes legally binding.

[H0neyBee]

Thanks for the advice (yes, somehow my first post ended up under 'feminism, oops).

It still leaves us with a problem that we want to complete earlier than this problem couple do. Our buyers are desperate to move in, and I don't want to give my 2 children more upheaval by having to move twice to cover the gap. My vendors also really don't want to delay. They're in their 90s, so I'm also cross on their behalf, demanding ridiculous sums of money from frail OAPs is just so unethical. So better for everyone if the problem couple would be the ones to split the chain and allow us all to complete as planned, given they caused the issue. We can hardly evict them though!

[specialsubject]

Either these arrogant tossers stay in a hotel for two weeks at their expense, or you all exchange as planned but delay completion. Is two weeks later to move impossible?

[H0neyBee]

Thanks, yes I've been mulling it over & we could possibly delay completion slightly - but our buyers are first time buyers & have handed notice on their rental place already so it does mess up that. I'm speaking up my lovely estate agent in the morning to see what she suggests too, hopefully it's all fixable without paying out too much...

[JinkxMonsoon]

I've never heard anything like it

Their delay, their costs, their problem.

Clearly, they feel like they can hold the chain to ransom because they're in a position of "power", but they can fuck right off. How dare they.

[PlotterOfPlots]

i have heard of this happening to kerp chains together and as you say, it is sheer blackmail.

If the only actual blocker is the FTBs' notice having been handed in, I wonder if that could be overcome by awkward people paying £750ish (or actual cost) to FTB/ their landlord to cover extending their current contract 2 weeks? It might suit their landlord to delay their moving out date... Maybe not of course, but worth asking at least. Basically it depends how impossible is "impossible".

[Imperialleather2]

The ftb shouldn't have handed in their notice on the flat until they had exchanged.

The people at the top have every right to change the house they want to buy and effectively make the whole chain wait.
They are not demanding £750. They are saying if you guys want us to.incur all this extra expense to suit your non legally binding timescales then you need to.chip in.

It would probably be cheaper for the ftb to speak to their landlord and see.if they cam stay on for a couple more.weeks until the while chain is ready.

The chain could have fallen apart for any number of reasons and.you wouldn't have hit your.date.

[BoaConstrictor]

Yes it is outrageous but it happens.
The FTB were naive in giving notice and are saving money by doing so (it isn't unusual IME to have to pay both rent & the mortgage as the dates don't tie in). What would their accommodation costs be for the fortnight? You could respond by saying that the new date is fine but the FTB will incur accommodation costs of X (hopefully less than £3000) and so you need to contribute X/4. Of course, the problem with any of these plans is that, until you exchange, nothing is set in stone and dates may change again. If the people higher up the chain, have only just swapped properties, they may not have done all of the searches or surveys yet so there could be more delays.
The FTB are the ones with the real problem here as, at some point, they will need to make the call whether to move someone short term or take on a longer term rental again.

[Sooverthis]

I'd say no but I'm pigheaded you really need to take the emotion out. Is the chain definitely able to proceed if you all pay this and definitely going to fail if you don't? I don't think so, the ftb have to move whether you pay or don't pay so they actually have no power at all (if they can't talk ll into another two weeks that's their problem if they collapse the chain they will still be homeless and in a hotel).

[Dozer]

In your circumstances I would agree to a two week delay, but not to any further delays.

think that until exchange it's unrealistic to make assumptions on timing or even that it's going to happen, and that the renters in your chain should not have given notice: their handling of their situation is not your problem unless they pull out of the chain.

What if the cheeky chain members' new property takes longer than expected or falls through?

[Charlieiscool]

I would pay on condition of the exchange going ahead as originally planned as your purchase and sale will then be secure. They will never get through the process for the new house they want within two weeks so if you just decide to wait you'll find the delay extends. It is annoying of course but your chain could collapse otherwise and you will be out of pocket a great deal more if that happens.

[JudyCoolibar]

Clearly, they feel like they can hold the chain to ransom because they're in a position of "power", but they can fuck right off. How dare they.

The problem with that is that if they fuck right off then no-one moves, so face it, they are in a position of power.

If the only issue with delay is the renters, then essentially this is their problem, not yours, and they were very silly to give notice when contracts hadn't been exchanged.

[DinosaursRoar]

Go with the 2 week delay and get the solicitor to contact the ftb couple - if their landlord hasn't lined up a new tenant they might be perfectly happy to have them in for an extra 2 weeks.

[YelloDraw]

Go with the 2 week delay and get the solicitor to contact the ftb couple - if their landlord hasn't lined up a new tenant they might be perfectly happy to have them in for an extra 2 weeks.

This. Most LL are super happy to have the existing tenant stay for a couple more weeks even if notice has been served.

[wowfudge]

We had this from the ftbs at the start of the chain we were in - demanding their rent was paid because we didn't exchange by Easter. They were advised that exchanging by Easter was only ever something being aimed for and that no one would be paying them anything. Given that they would be paying rent for considerably longer if they pulled out and started looking again, they calmed down and waited two weeks.

[PlotterOfPlots]

the other question you need assurance on is whether your blackmailers will actually be ready to move with only a fortnight's extra grace.

There must be a risk that that will slip further to the right. The rest of the chain, including FTBs, need to understand chances of this (may be small). And FTBs should have pehaps been more sanguine about chances of everything going ahead on the initial date.

[Glittershoes22]

Chains are crap, you stand to lose everything until the day you exchange and everyone is signed up and deposits transferred.

I would delay completion to their timetable, its only 2 weeks in the great scheme of things but as others have said get FTB to move in with friends or extend rental.

Push for everyone to agree to new date and exchange, once they are locked in no more blackmail

None of this is your problem at all, but you do have to be flexible in a chain to proceed and if you can't afford to not be part of the chain you have to stick in and hope for the best.

I truly feel for you we have been stuck in a chain with total cw*nts since February and the amount of ultimatums and toy throwing by everyone around us has boggled my mind. People turn into complete selfish knobs when in a chain. We agreed to move in June, sitting here in August still twiddling our thumbs!!!! Good luck

[specialsubject]

Push for exchange. The ftb were silly to give notice before exchange but that's not your problem.

[wowfudge]

Chains are crap, you stand to lose everything until the day you exchange and everyone is signed up and deposits transferred.

This isn't confined to chains - that's the reality of buying any property in England and Wales.

The ftbs in our chain pissed me off with their demand - stands to reason that if you are the first link in the chain you will have concluded your due diligence first, plus you are buying and not selling at the same time; it's far less complicated.

[HarryPottersMagicWand]

Not a chance in hell would I pay for someone else's hotel and storage! The whole chain will just need to wait for 2 weeks, it's not the end of the world and the ftbs should never have given notice, that's their fault.

[H0neyBee]

Ah, thanks everyone! Lots of sorry stories from other chains, the whole process IS rubbish! Today was good news however, only my vendors agreed to pay £750 & the problem couple have accepted that & agreed to complete their sale on the earlier date - all agreed while I was still refusing to pay. So we're back on track & I haven't paid anything. Feel bad for my vendors as they're v old & were also v cross - but I'm not rocking the boat at this stage. Fingers crossed we all get across the line now.