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AIBU?

Bought a new house and the old owners didn't think they had to move out!

491 replies

thumb3lina · 26/02/2016 21:24

So today we went to complete on our new house, very excited and all packed ready to go. We got a call from our solicitor to say it was completed and we left to go to our new home, with all of our things. Stopped off at the estate agents, got the keys, everything fine.

We get there, go to the front door, put the key in and have a massive shock to find the previous owners sitting in the lounge. We asked who they were and they introduced themselves as the previous owners. They hadn't even packed one box!! DH asks them why they are still in OUR house and they inform us that they decided not to move out until Sunday!? We pointed out that we had all of our things in a van outside with our 2 month old baby and DH politely asked them to leave to which they replied it would be too inconvenient for them to leave today!

We ended up threatening to call the police as we legally owned the house and now had nowhere to go, so they said they would leave in an hour but acted as if we were being very unreasonable. We had to get all of our helpers to help them pack and they ended up leaving 5 hours later.

I'm also quite pissed off with the agent as surely they should make sure these situations don't happen.

OP posts:

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CraftyPenguin · 26/02/2016 21:48

Omg. That's very off behaviour. I really think you should change the locks tomorrow!

TwoLeftSocks · 26/02/2016 21:48

Wow, I've never heard of this and yet it seems it's not a one off, just wow.

Rdoo · 26/02/2016 21:50

I'm a conveyancer, I've seen this happen quite a few times. You have no reason to be mad with the agents, it's not their fault. It's really their solicitors who should have made it clear they need to move out but as a solivitor/conveyancer you do tend to just assume people understand they have to leave a house they've just sold!!

foxessocks · 26/02/2016 21:50

Goodness me I've never heard of this happening before! I feel very lucky to have 2 fairly straightforward house moves. op hope you're okay sounds very stressful. Make sure you let the relevant people know!

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 26/02/2016 21:51

Jesus! Leaving clothes, food, etc is awful. The last thing you want when you move in is other people's stuff.

I did inadvertently leave a cat behind when I moved house as cat legged it and refused to come home. New owners were very understanding and weren't moving in for another week. They let me keep a key and I had to keep popping back till I caught the bastard cat!

junebirthdaygirl · 26/02/2016 21:53

Anytime we bought a house and we have bought a good few over the years the agent came with us to let us in and check that all was well and in perfect condition for us to move into. It would mean they would deal with strange vendors not us. Surprised that that didn't happen.

Nyborg · 26/02/2016 21:53

MaryPoppins - be careful. It will make you their landlord, as a previous poster said, and if your mortgage isn't buy-to-let, that could cause problems. Please talk to your solicitor.

BigGlasses · 26/02/2016 21:54

Similar thing happened to us. Bought a bigger house just down the road from our house. The sellers knew we hadn't sold ours yet and I did say to them that there was no huge hurry to get their stuff out by 12 (completion) . Was a bit surprised when I came home from work that they were still shifting. By 8pm I was furious as the kids were desperate to see the new house etc and I had to put them to bed without seeing it. ended up necking my bottle of fizz that I had bought to celebrate, then went down and started shouting like a fishwife. Had a screaming match with the wife. They eventually let at midnight.
It was horrible. Took all the excitement out of buying the house. Bastards. But at least we didn't have a removal van waiting the the kerb to put our stuff in. Could have been worse

KitKat1985 · 26/02/2016 21:54

They sound mental!

SanityClause · 26/02/2016 21:54

There is no way I would do that, marypoppins, unless you know them personally.

Make sure you have a written agreement, approved by your solicitor, won't you?

We recently were in a position where we sold a property, and we're having difficulty matching up removal dates with the purchasers' possible completion dates. They agreed to let us move our things (furniture used for dressing, only) out a few days after completion, but we really were not happy about it, so in the end we pulled all the stops out to get our removal done on the right day.

We were amazed that the purchasers' solicitor agreed to them not having vacant possession, and frankly, we were worried they might not let us back in to get our stuff. We had no legal right to go in, after all.

Phalenopsisgirl · 26/02/2016 22:00

Not the agents fault, it's the solicitors job to make sure the client understands that have to leave on day of completion, however unless these people were very very young and a bit stupid, who the hell doesn't know this anyway!?!!

BigQueenBee · 26/02/2016 22:00

You own the house; they are essentially squatting. I'm just thinking this thread has been handpicked for maximum audience,

upthegardenpath · 26/02/2016 22:01

unbelievable...

NoncommittalToSparkleMotion · 26/02/2016 22:01

Holy shit! What a nightmare!

BrienneofQarth · 26/02/2016 22:01

Can confirm it does happen, my younger brother had this when he bought his first place. To be fair, they were in the process of moving out but you do assume when you take the keys to your new home that it will actually be vacated...

lostinindia · 26/02/2016 22:02

Marypoppins speak to your solicitor. I remember our solicitor saying that after completion the previous owners had to be out as our insurance wouldn't cover damage done to the house whilst they were occupying it. He gave the example of the house burning down to put the fear into us.

RomComPhooey · 26/02/2016 22:02

marypoppins do you realise the implications of doing that?

Aren't they technically sitting tenants and you'd have to go through a legal eviction process to get them out if they refuse to move out on the date you've informally agreed?

Phalenopsisgirl · 26/02/2016 22:03

Mary poppins this really isn't a good idea, by all means negotiate a day convenient to all for completion once contracts exchange but don't complete until they are ready to leave, your solicitor really should be advising you of this.

NorfolkEnchance · 26/02/2016 22:04

We had similar. They'd packed but were too fucking tight to hire a van so we're planning on doing it in their car. 3.5 hours later they finally got out. We had to pay an extra 2 hours for our removals and got no compensation from them. And they left the house in a state!

CalicoBlue · 26/02/2016 22:07

We sold our house and were putting everything into storage for a few weeks as the vendors of the house we were buying were messing us about. DH (at the time) was very disorganised and I was 7 months PG with DC1. Van went off, I was ready to go and found that DH had gone upstairs for a shower. New owners turned up, I was so embarrassed. They had to go to the pub for lunch whist DH finished his shower.

A few weeks later when we completed on our new house, they messed us about so much that I did not trust them to be out on completion day. So I booked the van to bring our stuff out of storage the next day. Neighbour told us that they had not moved out till midnight on day of completion. So glad we had waited.

There are some very strange people about, exdh included.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 26/02/2016 22:09

I haven't actually walked in to find previous owners in situ, but completion on my first flat had to be delayed for two weeks, at the eleventh hour, as the owner hadn't realised she would have to move out on completion day!

It's obviously more common than people think!

Buckinbronco · 26/02/2016 22:11

Marypoppins you'd be mad to do that.

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MrsJayy · 26/02/2016 22:12

But they completed and handed keys in how can anybody so brazen

carabos · 26/02/2016 22:14

MiL tried to do this years ago. She and FiL were moving and she didn't really want to. Well, she did, but she didn't want the moving bit. DH and I arrived at their place the night before the move to take them some supper, assuming that everything would be packed up. We found MiL sitting watching tv while FiL half heartedly moved stuff around without actually packing any of it.

DH and I were and . When pressed DMiL said she was leaving it till the morning and there was plenty of time. DH and I set to and it took ALL NIGHT to get it done. She didn't care.

OhShutUpThomas · 26/02/2016 22:14

That is mad.

What are you doing with all their stuff?? Just tipping it into boxes bins? Or putting your toothbrushes and milk in next to theirs?

I'd sling it all in the garden to be honest.

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