Seller is 'taking' furniture despite my including it in offer letter?

[Rae34]

I have a worse than useless solicitor who I have spoken to just twice even though my date of entry is in 2 days. Really tearing my hair out here and have had no documents of any kind but anyway.

He has finally contacted me and said 'the seller is taking x pieces of furniture during the move, is that okay?'. This means I will now have nothing at all to sit in in the living room to start - these furniture pieces were included in the offer. What are my legal rights??

Did they agree to leave the furniture? We were recently selling a house in Scotland and the offer we got included the furniture which we refused and gave them the option to offer separately.

Have you signed a contract (missives)?

ok, just read your post in the middle that says he will send the contract. So I'm assuming it hasn't been signed yet. If that's the case then go back and make it clear what your offer was based on and that you want them including in the contract.

Did they accept the offer without querying the furniture that you wanted?

If so, then it is fine to insist that they leave the furniture.

Not sure how property law works in Scotland but in England you have a 'Fixtures and Fittings List' - usually things like garden pots but also sometimes curtain poles, white goods etc... and if you leave them you mark it on this list and you have to leave them, you can't just decide at the last minute you're taking them or indeed leaving them.

I've not heard of money exchanging hands for furniture. Get onto your solicitor and tell him that you do not want seller to take X furniture when they move. Or if they do take X furniture then this is reflected somehow - can't recall what exactly you can do re this as you've paid the asking price.

Why is the solicitor telling me they are taking the furniture and in the same breath saying 'is that ok?'

He's saying they intend to take the furniture - and he is checking with you that you do really want the furniture before he goes back to them to say as per the offer, you need to leave the furniture.

Do I have the right to say no or not?

Get straight back to him - as he has asked - to clarify that it is NOT okay for them to take the furniture.

Actually - it sounds as though the furniture IS mentioned the contract, seller has backtracked and tour solicitor is checking you are okay with it before making amendments.

Op, have missives been concluded yet? If so then the Seller is breaking them. They either have to leave the furniture as stated in the missives or you reduce the price accordingly. Your solicitor should be well versed in this although some are useless.
Good luck x

No, of course if the offer specified furniture then they cant take it.

The solicitor's 'is it okay' is him/her being lazy, knowing full well that the offer included furniture, but wanting you to agree to it for a quiet life (hence the incentive - if you says it is okay we'll exchange now). If you say no, he's got loads more back and forth to do.

Say no, and refer them to the offer paperwork.

He has replied saying he suggests I have a word with the seller myself because she is refusing to leave the chair. Isnt that his job??

He says my only option is to threaten walking away or deduct the price. We are caught in a stalemate until resolved.

Yea my solicitor is absolutely useless. The service has been shocking all the way through.

"No, it was included in the sale, deduct the price by £250 and she can take it" or whatever amount you're comfortable means you can quickly buy a chair that's similar or better.

Then deduct the price!

Was it accepted when you offered and have you concluded the missives?

@CleverCatty when I brought my home the vendor agreed to leave whatever furniture I wanted for £200 as they would have to pay to get rid of it all. I just wanted garden stuff, curtains and white goods.

Not sure how things work in Scotland. I’m in the US. I’d tell him you’ll want £xxx off and he can just take it out of his commission if he’s not willing to do his job and enforce the original offer. Be nonchalant.

[quote RedMarauder]@CleverCatty when I brought my home the vendor agreed to leave whatever furniture I wanted for £200 as they would have to pay to get rid of it all. I just wanted garden stuff, curtains and white goods.[/quote]
RedMarauder - I can't recall how it works now - used to work in a legal office, sounds about right though!

OP is in Scotland though so don't know if they do things different there - different laws to England and Wales!

@Rae34

Yea my solicitor is absolutely useless. The service has been shocking all the way through.

Rae34 - sadly I know from bitter cost and also working in a legal firm - most people who complain about their solicitors to get a reduction in price generally they don't get anywhere with this...

You could complain to one of the senior partners and see if they can step in - mention the service etc.

When this is over and you've paid your fees etc - leave a bad Google review if you're unhappy - most legal firms work on recommendations and if you were not happy for whatever reasons let them know.

I do hope you didn't go for a cheap £100 conveyancing shop solicitors outfit though - they're ok for easy conveyancing transactions but for more complex they're pretty useless basically because they'll be paralegals being overseen by one or two qualified solicitor.

Is this over just one chair?? I assume the solicitor is asking you to take it up with vendor so you don’t end up incurring legal fees that cost far more than the chair is worth.

I would also guess the chair has some sort of sentimental value to vendor? Either that or it’s not in a fit state (reupholstered does no fire labels, or knackered)? - assumption in Scotland is that things included in sale have to be “useable” when you move in.

Contact vendor and tell her that your offer was made on the assumption of the chair being part of the sale. If not part of sale then reduce offer my the value of a secondhand chair. Or just move on. It’s probably not worth the stress and hassle.

Say that it was understood the furniture was included in the sale and refer to any email/letter/details as proof. Don't take it further than that - see what the reply is.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

*Kick up stink - not kick uppitiest stink

Though uppitiest sounds goo to me.

😂😂 I want to see that stink!

Worry*

See too! I didn't realise I'd typed "goo"!

Tell her she leaves the chair or you back out of the sale. Her choice

If the solicitor is that shit, then it’s likely that the vendor never agreed to those pieces of furniture being included in the sale and the solicitor didn’t bother to tell you until you feel like it’s too late.

Tbf, the vendor isn’t obliged to leave you their own stuff that they want to keep so it sounds like there’s been a miscommunication somewhere.

@Saz12
I sold my flat with all the furniture in it. I didnt even take a lamp! Just left it all and it was sold as such; with everything included. The buyer was a first time buyer moving out of his parents and he was delighted (my furniture was pretty high end and had worn well so still looked great).
I'm also in Scotland. I've seen loads if properties sold with furniture as part of the sale. Its really bot unusual.