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AIBU?

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Original poster

to say get out of my new house

111 replies

itispersonal · 16/08/2014 10:11

Completed house move yesterday morning now legally owed the house but the seller is still moving stuff out this morning. I knew it was going to be late yesterday when she got all her stuff out so left her last night after initially going round at 5.30 yesterday evening with the view of her being all out. Got there 8 this morning with a view of cleaning top to bottom but only the kitchen hasn't got stuff in. Luckily we still have our house until tenant moves in beginning of month, but surely she is taking the proverbial now.

Have rang estate agents but not sure how far to push her? Aibu to give her til midday and then after that what's left stays... Though then I'd probably be left with all the crap!

OP posts:
Mandyandme · 16/08/2014 12:12

Trespassing might not be a criminal offence but squatting and or dumping your rubbish/possessions in someone's house without their permission is.

CarryOn90 · 16/08/2014 12:12

Friend of mine had this problem. It's not her house she has no right to be there

differentnameforthis · 16/08/2014 12:15

BringMeSunshine2014 I am assuming that the lady knew she had sold her house, therefore the onus is on her to pack up & arrange removal in good time. Ok, so she didn't know the move date until a few days before, but she knew it was coming!

SolidGoldBrass · 16/08/2014 12:15

Hang on, the OP has somewhere to live, has not packed up her own belongings to move them into the new house yet, and the seller was only given 48 hours notice of completion?

Basically, OP, the law might be on your side if you call the police and have them drag the woman from the house, and you then throw all her remaining belongings into the street but you don't actually need to be such a cunt about it, do you?

And she might well have a case against you for criminal damage if anything happens to her furniture after you chuck it out.

AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 16/08/2014 12:15

Exactly. One would think she would at least have everything packed and ready to go, and it would just be a matter of transporting it all away.

CeliaBowen · 16/08/2014 12:19

I have not read the thread (sorry) but she is in breach of contract. Speak to your solicitor - there is a penalty clause for every day she is still there. This is sadly a problem with completing on a Friday... the solicitors aren't in the next day!

differentnameforthis · 16/08/2014 12:22

SGB, in all fairness, she has had at least 6 notice of the impending move. I emigrated & still managed to be out of the house I sold on the day they had legal possession of it. because I knew I has sold my house, so started packing the moment I accepted their offer. Yes, there was a possibility that it could have fallen through, but there was still plenty to be packed that didn't affect my day to day living (books, pictures, some of dd's toys etc)

The person selling the house wasn't given an 48hr eviction notice, she SOLD her house.

And what if OP didn't have a week to wait, what if she needed to move in because her tenant was moving in today?

differentnameforthis · 16/08/2014 12:23

*she has had at least 6 weeks notice of the impending move.

CeliaBowen · 16/08/2014 12:25

Imagine standing on the doorstep with 5 kids waiting to move in.

Fairenuff · 16/08/2014 12:26

Trespassing might not be a criminal offence but squatting and or dumping your rubbish/possessions in someone's house without their permission is.

No, it's not.

Squatting is a civil matter. Putting a person's belongings on the pavement is not a criminal offence. It's all about the intention. If there is no intent to commit a criminal offence (such as theft or damage), then moving someone's belongings out of your house is not a crime.

PricillaQueenOfTheDessert · 16/08/2014 12:27

She is in breach of contract and defaulted on the completion. Not much you can do other than to tell her you will be hearing from her solicitor on Monday - for every day she is in there you can sue for a % of the sale price. Tell her she has until the end of the day otherwise tomorrow will be another day you will sue for. If she couldn't be out in time she shouldn't have agreed to such a short completion and not being able to move on the say is no excuse for not being packed up.

Ulysses · 16/08/2014 12:28

Bit of hysteria on here! The problem seems to be a lack of communication, which is the fault of the previous owner, but there could be all sorts of reasons why she hasn't complete when she said she would. I'd try and call and speak to her to find out the situation and how it can be resolved.

Fairenuff · 16/08/2014 12:29

She has completed Ulysses.

Mandyandme · 16/08/2014 12:33

Fairenuff I think you will find the law changed and squatting is a criminal act.

Squatting in residential buildings (like a house or flat) is illegal. It can lead to 6 months in prison, a £5,000 fine or both

Taken from the Government website

Original poster
itispersonal · 16/08/2014 12:36

Good news when I went back there at half 10 she was just leavin.

I was just a bit miffed this mornin as if she hadnt finished packing last night why didn't she send me a message saying still got a few things left will do them first thing in mornin is that ok. As then I could have planned my day better that's what annoying.

Plus insurance side on things in the house etc.

I was under the impression she wasn't living there and had started to live with a friend as her house moving into needed gutting.

OP posts:
Mandyandme · 16/08/2014 12:38

So you are presumably paying council tax, and mortgage on a property you haven't got possession of.

CeliaBowen · 16/08/2014 12:42

You still need to contact your solicitor first thing on Monday and let them know.

Too many people get away with this because the buyers can't be bothered to follow it up!

AliceDoesntLiveHereAnymore · 16/08/2014 12:47

Glad she's gone now OP and you can get on with moving in. Enjoy!

firesidechat · 16/08/2014 12:48

All of those saying "poor thing, she only had 48 hours notice" are being far too kind.

We had less than 2 days between exchange and completion on our last move. We had van provisionally booked and everything that could be packed was packed. Everything was out in plenty of time and the house spotless. It's not that hard to do.

I once helped someone move and vowed never to do it again. They were clearing out the kitchen drawers on the day of the move and nothing appeared to be packed or in any way clean. For a semi control freak like me it was stressful and mildly embarrassing. I can't understand why some people can't get their act together and there were no extenuating circumstances in the case of my friend. She had a husband and two capable children.

I've come to the conclusion that the op and many of the posters on here are nicer people than I am. This woman would be in no doubt about my feelings towards her. What would she have done it her buyers were moving in that day?

Iconfuseus · 16/08/2014 13:44

I would just like to pipe in and recommend that once the old owners are gone, you get all the locks changed, even on the garage.

A colleague of mine once told me a story about how the old owners of her house had kept the keys and let themselves back in when she was at home. You can imagine she wasn't pleased.

It stuck in my mind so when we bought our house I had all the locks changed on exchange day, but forgot about the garage. We didn't move in straight away, but went back to the new house the next day.

There was a load of rubbish in the drive way - that I'm certain wasn't there before. I'll never be able to prove it but I suspect that the old owners came back and moved stuff out of the garage because they knew we were not in yet (it's a nosey sort of street and they are very friendly with some of the neighbours). If they did indeed do this it is totally cheeky and not on.

I will never know if they'd intended to let themselves into the house too, but I do derive a slightly smug sense of satisfaction in imagining them coming over to find all the locks changed.

fiorentina · 16/08/2014 13:51

Good news. Please do change the locks now though. Someone who is so lax about moving out on completion day isn't fully to be trusted in my opinion. Everyone knows you don't do that. I was going nuts when our vendors weren't out 6 hours after completion as we'd moved everything out our old house. It's unacceptable.

Hope you are happy in your new home.

Dakiara · 16/08/2014 14:21

Another one recommending changing the locks.

We moved a lot when I was younger and I never understood why all the lock changes until the day we came home to find the old owner of one of the houses trying to jam his keys into the new lock to "collect some more of his stuff" two weeks after we had moved in!

KIrsty7318 · 16/08/2014 14:46

I know someone who said she went to move in to a house and found the previous family still there. Cooking tea.

Apparently it was a repossession, and they wanted 'every thing normal' for when their daughter came back from school. She told them to fuck off.

SolidGoldBrass · 16/08/2014 15:00

Kirsty: Sounds a bit unlikely. Either the people who had reposessed the house were jumping the gun a bit in selling it (AFAIK to actually sell a house and complete, etc, you need to have vacant possession which would have meant eviction and changing the locks - though some people hand back the keys and leave voluntarily) or the previous family were tenants and the house had been sold without anyone telling them.
Or your acquaintance was simply making the story up to promote some or other prejudice of her own.

PuppyMonkey · 16/08/2014 15:10

When we completed on our current house, I got the keys about noon and went round to find family still there.

They were doing last minute packing tbf, and they were out within an hour. but the mum also said her teenage son was "just having a quick shower" and then they'd be leaving. Could he not have had a shower in their new house (which was only a few streets away btw)??

I was a bit gobsmacked.