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AIBU?

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Original poster

Bathroom comes with the house??!!

607 replies

greencygnets · 29/07/2018 12:10

So DH and I have just bought a new house (not brand new but new to us :)) and it cost us a lot of money (far more than a care to admit! :))
We moved in yesterday, the house is perfect except for one thing...

They've taken the bloody bathroom with them!!!!

One of the two main bathrooms upstairs is literally empty, like I don't mean just the furniture which you obviously take with you. But they've taken the bath, sink and shower!!!!

The room is tiled but theres random pipes sticking out of walls where these things should be!! The only thing left is the toilet. I honestly don't know what to do... We were going to redo the bathroom anyway at some point but never told this to anybody and weren't planning to do so until at least November/December time but now we don't have a choice!!

The kids come home from the holiday with my in-laws on Tuesday and we've got no bathroom for them!!!!

AIBU to think that the bathroom comes with the house, or is it totally reasonable to take the bathroom with you to your new house??!!

OP posts:
Bufferingkisses · 29/07/2018 17:15

If you allowed them to be in the property after their official time I think you may be on a sticky wicket tbh.

At that point it becomes your risk just the same as if you gave me your keys and left me alone for 12/24 hours.

PeakPants · 29/07/2018 17:20

Buffering nobody is saying she should claim on the house insurance. This would be breach of contract by the seller. For that, it makes no difference whether the seller took a few extra hours to move their stuff out- they still breached the contract.

Original poster
greencygnets · 29/07/2018 17:25

Sorry, what I should have put was about two weeks ago their solicitor went to our solicitor and told them they couldn't move in until late Friday (I think maybe it was a rental property they were going into?:) our solicitor said it was up to us what we did but he could delay completion until they were out. There solicitor said they would be out by 4 on Friday. So we completed at about 4. only then apparently they changed their minds and etc. etc. needed another hour or so.
we just wanted to finish with everything and didn't want to wait until Monday. so agreed to one hour as long as our solicitor could swing it with the insurance so we weren't responsible until we actually went into the house.

I hope this all make sense, I don't really get it myself! DH did most of the legal stuff!

We're going to make it work, and I myself also can't wait to see what the solicitor comes back with on Monday!!! :) :)

OP posts:
AnnieAnoniMoose · 29/07/2018 17:28

I bet you were 😳😳😳🤔😖

You really do have to wonder what goes through people’s heads!

The kids will be fine going into the shower with you.

I hope you get a lot of ££ and can put in a bathroom you like quite quickly. Start ringing around tradesmen and finding a suite you like.

...and as someone else said, make the most of it being completely empty and getting it painted etc.

I’d like to see your solicitors face tomorrow morning 😂

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 29/07/2018 17:30

No, it doesn’t make much sense, since you initially said that they told you that you had to move in on Saturday.
You don’t seem to have the first clue about the legal process you’ve just completed.

Grimbles · 29/07/2018 17:31

Last move we did our vendors had trouble getting a removal company and asked if they could stay an extra day past completion. We were told by our solicitor absolutely not as this would invalidate our insurance and as the terms of the mortgage state vacant possession it would invalidate our mortgage and could even be classed as mortgage fraud if we allowed it.

Grimbles · 29/07/2018 17:35

Completion time is set at exchange iirc and can't be changed - all legal docs and mortgage transfers are set to be done at this specific time.

I vaguely remember there being issues a few years back when a banking system went down which prevented mortgage transfers going through which caused chaos because people couldn't complete on their sales/purchases.

Your solicitor sounds shit the!

LongSummerDays · 29/07/2018 17:38

I'm seeing a hole in this story now. No solicitor worth his salt would dream of being a party to this kind of caper. You pay him to protect your interests in a legal process, not dance to the other parties tune!

Singlebutmarried · 29/07/2018 17:38

Have you had a look on Facebook?

Nearly new bathrooms for sale, must be collected by Friday 4pm?

LighthouseSouth · 29/07/2018 17:39

OP ". So we completed at about 4. only then apparently they changed their minds and etc. etc. needed another hour or so. "

so frantic conversations were going on with a solicitor at this point?

I have a horrible feeling you won't have a leg to stand on. unless you got some very special deal on no notice, it sounds like you owned the place lock, stock and barrel when they took the bathroom fittings out. Or they will claim they did it after 4pm when it was owned by you and therefore your responsibility.

Hygge · 29/07/2018 17:40

Your solicitor will be able to deal with this and they should also have a copy of the printed property details.

In fact, you should also have a printed copy. Did the Estate Agent send one to you with the memorandum of sale? Both the buyer and seller should have copy, and so should both solicitors.

The seller should have told the agent the bathroom fixtures and fittings were not being sold, and the agent should not then have listed them the details.

The missing bathroom should have been reflected in the valuation and asking price of the house, and your offer should have been made with full knowledge of the intention to remove the bathroom.

The sellers have to approve the property details too, so even if the agents did include it accidentally, at that point they had the chance to say "actually, we're taking this bathroom."

Your solicitor may be able to claw back some money for you to reflect the value of the house without the bathroom, which should help you pay for a plumber and a new suite.

You have no idea if the bathroom has been removed properly or safely and if you took a mortgage on the property your mortgage lender will need to know as your property isn't now worth the money they agreed to lend you to buy it.

Grimbles · 29/07/2018 17:42

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eggsandwich · 29/07/2018 17:44

Ran this past my hubby (he’s an estate agent) he said on the fixtures and fittings list, if the bath, sink are ticked as included then they shouldn’t of taken it, but if it’s ticked as excluded on the sheet they can take them so he said look at your fixtures and fittings sheet.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 29/07/2018 17:45

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LighthouseSouth · 29/07/2018 17:48

thing is, there are extraordinary levels of "no understanding what I've signed" going on. Friends of ours (in flats) are currently battling with a new neighbour who doesn't understand which bit of garden they own and at first we thought they were trying it on, but when shown the legal papers they were shocked....like they hadn't read the papers at all before buying.

I'm not sure what's worse, the CFery or the level of "cba reading legals"!

Hygge · 29/07/2018 17:48

When we bought our house the seller thought she had two weeks to move out after completion.

I had a long and difficult phone call with her where she insisted that the last time she sold a house she didn't have to move for weeks.

I explained the difference between exchange and completion to her, and she just kept saying "mmm...no" or "but I have a lot of things to move, and a cat, you can't possibly expect me to do it all in one day."

She was the one who bloody well insisted that there was only one day in the entire year that she could complete on, and only that one day would do.

Then she fucked off to Germany to look at trees and threatened to delay things until the New Year. She still wanted to complete though, because she needed the money. She just thought that wouldn't mean leaving the same day as she'd quite liked to have had one last Christmas in the house and she could move things bit by bit, save her taking her annual leave because she was off over Christmas anyway. Hmm

My solicitor was bloody amazing in the way she got that sorted, but it's amazing to me how many people don't realise that they have to move out when they sell the house, or think they can do it bit by bit over weeks or months.

Grimbles · 29/07/2018 17:49

It's very unlikely to have completion after 3.30 on a Friday as that's the cut-off time for CHAPS transfers to be processed.

Disfordarkchocolate · 29/07/2018 17:54

When we moved last May all the monies were transferred 2 days before and sat in the solicitors clients account so there were no transfer delays point the day.

SheCameFromGreeceSheHadaThirst · 29/07/2018 17:56

This is all extremely bizarre
Apologies if I’ve missed the OP’s response to this, but was this in the UK? (I see a few people have asked that, but must have missed the OP’s response if she’s replied)

‘County moving in times’ are not a ‘thing’ in the UK, so I guess you must be elsewhere in the world.

But somehow we’ve got a scenario where the world’s most inept solicitor, the world’s shadiest house seller, and the world’s least clued-up house buyers all happened upon each other, with the upshot being a stolen bathroom.

I’m also a bit baffled by the comment about your solicitor ‘swinging it’ with the insurance: insurance companies don’t change the terms of a policy on the say-so of a solicitor.

Odd shenanigans all round

Smellyrose · 29/07/2018 17:58

5.30 is the cut off time for CHAPS to be sent.

Still sounds dodgy though!

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 29/07/2018 17:58

Yes, the solicitor swinging it with the insurance is gilding the lily to the max!

thereisalwaysmorehope · 29/07/2018 17:58

Can we see a pic of the bathroom?

SheCameFromGreeceSheHadaThirst · 29/07/2018 18:00

I hope this all make sense, I don't really get it myself! DH did most of the legal stuff!

Well it's a good job you've got a big clever man to take care of all the tricksy-wicksy legal stuff with his extra-large male brain, eh? Hmm

But yeah, pretty much none of this makes sense at all.

BMW6 · 29/07/2018 18:00

Yes, come on OP post a pic of the bathroom in question

LongSummerDays · 29/07/2018 18:01

Bet OP is frantically googling for images of a stripped bathroom. Grin

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