Buyer asking for money after Sale last year

[strangerInStrangeLand]

we sold our property last year to a very problematic person who is now trying to get some money from us
He has managed to get a no win no fee lawyer to send us a letter of claim for around 750£
He was previously trying to get 3000£ from us, but we refused to pay and had offered him 300£. He refused that and has now has come up with a claim of 750£. I think he will make slightly more than 300£ out of this after paying the no win no fee guys 25% and I suspect his main intention is to harass us and waste time.
His claims are

1. Failed to provide information about central heating system -270£ for the service he got done in the mean time. ( we installed a new boiler about an year before sale) Am I obliged to provide my free service contract under TA6? I haven't mentioned anything about free service or that I will provide it. I tried to go to his house and give him the documents once but he spoke to me rudely thru the window and asked me to contact his previous lawyer. By the time he came back with clarifications it was 6 months and we provided him with the free service information ( which is for 5 years! )
2. Leak under the sink - This is a newly installed kitchen one year before sale and was not leaking when we sold the house. he is demanding £75
3. Broken cistern, This was broken and we agreed under good will to pay him for this as part of previous negotiation. I dont think I m obligated under the contract to pay for this. I dont want to pay him anymore . He is demanding 100£
4. Rubbish in garden and attic. I had cleaned out the house but an old carpet was left in the attic and some pots and compost bags were in the garden. This would probably be a van full and not a skip full. We agreed to pay for this as well under last negotiation to avoid this nuisance. We also have a picture of him using the skip for disposing off his plant waste ( He cut down 2 of our beautiful trees 🙄He is that kind of person ) There is a cleanliness clause in TA6 which can be used for this at a stretch. he is demanding 345£

Only point 4 is breach of contract TA6 form none of the others are.

Is there a way to end this nuisance permanently 😉legally. I want to spend 300£ or less for this.
Can I find a no win no fee lawyer to counter his lawyer? Is there a arbitration service which would give a neutral and fair decision? I m ok to bear the costs. He is threatening to go to court and I m aware that he has to enter some alternative dispute resolution before he can go to court.
Also can he go to bigger court for such small claims? or is he obliged to go to citizen court? I am very busy working woman while he is retired so I dont want to spend long time in court.

Please advise.

WTF. No. Just ignore.

We had a letter from our buyer claiming money from us and we had a stressful weekend worrying about it until we could speak to our solicitor who just laughed and sent them a letter saying essentially fuck off, buyer beware.

Do not play a Penny.

I m tempted to Ignore , but he will try to be a nuisance as long as he can for free. He is the kind of person who is going to keep trying to do some harm. He is retired and had a lot of free time and extremely irritated with the world . His list of initial complains included very silly issues, Back door was difficult to open, Front windows difficult to close and 3000£ to replace the entire window. I left behind a can of paint for touch ups he called it rubbish 😁 He didnt complain that I left behind some 300£ worth of floor boards for him to use tho

If he dies, I m sure he is going to try to haunt me 😂

Just as a matter of interest OP, did he have a survey done ?

In fact he did , I may have mails from him requesting for the survey I dont have the results of that survey.

Then OP, if the surveyor has done his job properly, he (the buyer) should have been aware of the carpet in the loft, as the surveyor will have been up there. Doors and windows 'sticking' should also have been flagged up. Any issues with boiler should have been noted.

Beats me why he agreed to complete and then chooses to argue about it all now....

I don't know what else to say except to keep going down the legal route.

Thank you @Cocoatheclown , I will call the citizens advise and see if they advise us to go to some arbitrators . If not I will just refuse to settle for anything more than previous offer , I m tempted to not offer for anything but better be pragmatic and see where it goes.

The surveyor reports on the state of the building, not on items that may or may not be left behind by the sellers, so the carpet would not be mentioned. A survey does not cover the heating system, so issues with the boiler would not be noted. Sticking windows and doors might be mentioned in a survey depending on the level of survey the buyers pay for.

Re the carpet and other items left behind, that is a breach of contract. You sell a house with vacant possession. That means there should be nothing in the house. If you leave items behind that without agreement and the buyer incurs a cost in disposing of them, you are liable for that cost.

God loves a trier 😂

He’s suddenly come across the house needs maintaining. Is he going to ask you to decorate all the rooms next?

Yes, tell him to fuck off!

Has any of you actually told a chancer to fuck off and have they remained fucked off? 😄

I'm just here to say that you're a horrible person for leaving actual rubbish behind ("a van full"). That's all. 😁

So have you paid him for the broken toilet and the disposal of your rubbish? A van load of rubbish taken away by a registered waste carrier could cost £200-£300+. The toilet you've already agreed £100. I think you should write back and offer £300 in full and final settlement.

You can't just move out and leave your crap for the new buyer to deal with. Sounds like there's definitely more to this story.

Then OP, if the surveyor has done his job properly, he (the buyer) should have been aware of the carpet in the loft, as the surveyor will have been up there. Doors and windows 'sticking' should also have been flagged up. Any issues with boiler should have been noted

The survey would have been done when the house was occupied so why would a surveyor comment on a carpet? How on earth would he know the op was just going to leave her rubbish?!

LearnedAxolotl · Today 06:56
So have you paid him for the broken toilet and the disposal of your rubbish? A van load of rubbish taken away by a registered waste carrier could cost £200-£300+. The toilet you've already agreed £100. I think you should write back and offer £300 in full and final settlement.

I agree with this, you promised to pay £100 and haven’t and you’ve left a van load of rubbish in the garden and attic. No wonder he’s annoyed!

Why haven’t you at the very least paid the £100?

A surveyor wouldn't have picked up doors and windows sticking, they don't go round checking those type things, if the boiler was new the op should have provided docs to the solicitors as part of the sale. Did he have a homebuyers survey, or a full structural? I recently had a full structural survey as I bought a 200 year old house and they didn't check the operations of the doors or windows, just commented on the condition - also made recommendations on things that needed more looking at. Our boiler is old and our sellers told us they hadn't had it serviced. So it's not a prerequisite you service a boiler before selling.

Tell him to take you to the small claims court and represent yourself, he's being ridiculous. Anything legally you should have done will be documented by your solicitor, if the buyer has come back with additional complaints it's not your problem. If he wanted additional checks or things done before you left his grievance is with his solicitor or surveyor not you.

I had a motor trader take me to small claims after he bought a car off me. Turns out the car had the incorrect mileage showing, I didn't know, he decided to take me to small claims court as he's paid more than he would have done with the right mileage (so had I when I bought it), the judge told him it was a case of 'buyers beware, and he got nothing (plus paid for court fees)

I think you were unlucky in that you sold to someone extremely unpleasant, who has time on his hands.

But you have played into his hands by leaving the carpet and compost and pots.

I would settle in relation to the 4th point ( the one specified in the contract) and ignore the rest.

Yes. I once did some work for a big company which was sued by someone who was blatantly trying it on, on the basis that he assumed they would cough up to get rid of the hassle. Apparently he had some form for it. Big company decided enough was enough and told me they didn't mind what it cost, they weren't going to give in. I had great fun tying him up in knots inconveniently demanding evidence, and keeping him to the letter of the relevant law and procedures. Eventually he went to lawyers, I spoke to them and told them Big company just wasn't going to roll over, and he disappeared shortly afterwards. I like to think the the lawyers charged him quite a lot to advise him the scam wasn't going to work this time.

I'd just ignore it completely, if you open up some dialogue it'll just go on and on as hell think he can wear you down. If you ignore him he might just go away.

He can hope all he wants but he won't get the court to order you to pay his legal costs unless you behave unreasonably.

OP, honestly do not reply or respond in any way and simply ignore this. When purchasing property (under English law at least, I'm not familiar with other jurisdictions) Caveat Emptor applies - this means 'buyer beware'. You purchase the house in its current condition and its up to the buyer to perform reasonable checks and investigations to weed out issues (e.g., commissioning a full survey) and any issues are then used pre-contract stage to negotiate (e.g., if an issue is flagged you negotiate pre-contract to lower the purchase price, or the buyer contractually agrees to repair prior to completion). It doesn't sound like these issues were noted and contractually obligating you to do anything so ignore.

Rubbish in garden and attic. I had cleaned out the house but an old carpet was left in the attic and some pots and compost bags were in the garden. This would probably be a van full and not a skip full. We agreed to pay for this as well under last negotiation to avoid this nuisance.

Well no, you’re not agreeing to pay it to ‘avoid this nuisance’, you’re paying it because it’s your rubbish.

Have you actually paid him for the rubbish disposal and the cistern? If not, pay him for that and make it clear that’s all he’s owed.

@TooHotToTangoToo Thank you , Your motor case is a good example . I prefer representing myself in small claims court if his case is accepted by claims court rather than just ignoring his claims as it may put me in the wrong.