Vulnerable Family Friend sold £180k house to builder for £67k.... now being kicked out... help!

[ShoksCreek]

We have discovered that an 83 year old friend of the family sold his house of 35 years to a builder after he couldn't afford to pay for the work he was saying was necessary... he sold it for £67k when the house was worth £180,000. He was apparently promised a lifetime tenancy [he has prostrate cancer!] and that work would be done to the property. This sale was overseen by a solicitor who was paid for by the buyer and witnessed by an employee of the builder. The solicitor pointed out that the sale price was on the low side but never sought to ensure nothing odd was going on. The builder tried to move our friend out but he refused to go. He received news that the builder himself has now died but that the builders son wants him out and is getting a solicitor to sort this. So at 83 he will be homeless, at the mercy of the state, whilst the builders family pocket £100k..... Has anyone got any advice on what we might be able to achieve in this scenario. I feel that the sale is fraudulent but I don't know where to start with this.... the lifetime tenancy agreement was a verbal one. there are loads of inconsistencies with the Solicitor and the documentation but its where to start.....

If the transfer to the builder was signed by your friend it is voidable which means it is valid until set aside by the Court.

You need to find out if the transfer has been registered and take independent legal advice about whether it would be possible to have the transfer set aside by reason of undue influence.

I've no idea if this is a good idea or not but can you work out what work the builder did. Maybe you friend can tell you what he remembers or maybe he has receipts (unlikely I suspect). Maybe document what you can with photos etc. Also it might be worth getting valuations of the house. What it was worth now and then.

Have you checked to see if the builder had been prosecuted for anything else?

Unfortunately if he had capacity and he understood he was selling below market value then there’s probably not much you can do. Could your friend contact his GP and see if there is anything in their records from before the date of the sale that might show he lacked capacity?

He really needs to take some legal advice on his rights asap.

There's something not right about this story. A solicitor cannot act for both the buyer and the seller in a conveyancing transaction. It's a conflict of interest and a breach of professional standards. They teach you that at day one of law school. You'd get struck off for it. I'd be astounded if the firm was acting for both.

The SRA will only deal with client complaints about the client's own solicitor. Your relative is not the client so SRA won't consider his complaint.

The buyer's solicitor should have advised your relative to seek independent legal advice before signing the contract but, if he chose not to do that, they are perfectly entitled to continue. It's worth asking them for copies of all correspondence they sent him.

You might be able to argue that he didn't have capacity to enter into a legally binding contract. That will depend on the medical evidence at the time. Given the sum involved, the buyers son is unlikely to just walk away so you really need specialist legal advice urgently.

This!

www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/conflicts-interest/

Would his MP get involved do you think? Honestly what utter scum! What would happen to him ,will he be rehoused .Maybe the bad publicity would encourage the Son to at least allow him to stay for the moment until he passes on /goes to a home

You can make a complaint later you need to act quickly by getting legal advice now. Please don't mess around with this.

I'd keep contacting trading standards and the police too.

Awful. Don't think the Law Society will do anything as they are paid for by ... lawyers, so not surprisingly are somewhat biased. I'd still report them, at least they would have to go through the motions. Assuming the seller has house, try their legal assistance? Also can you get power of attorney to act for the poor seller?

They can act for both, if there is not a conflict of interests, its not uncommon at all in conveyancing where generally parties are in full agreement over terms etc.

However what is odd is that the solicitor spoke to the OP about the issue and was defensive, unless the OPs friend was present on the call and gave consent I'm amazed the solicitor spoke to the OP at all.

The main problem with this is the time that has elapsed between the transaction and now - a pp mentions voidable contracts, but the law states that after a reasonable length of time has passed, if neither party objects, the contract stands - 2 years could be seen as a reasonable length of time.

There is no doubt in my mind reading the OP that the deal was crooked, and the old boy was stitched up, but proving that, proving his capacity then vs capacity now is going to be tricky.

Add to that presumably the OP has no official agency to act on his behalf (ie POA etc).

I would suggest either the OP goes with her friend to a solicitor and gets advice, of gets adult social services involved who have more power to probe into things.

Its a horrid situation.

Yes, contact Adult Social Services, its just hit me, if you deliberatley deprive yourself of assets needed for care, they have legal powers to claw those assets back from whom they were sold/given too.

Its a long shot, but as they are potentially going to have to pay his care fees down the line, they could be very helpful, and have a legal department who might give some advice at the very least.

The SRA are very hot on this. I think this might be a good route to take.

I'm aware of a friend (property lawyer) who is having to do a huge amount of work to ensure their team get meticulous documentation of capacity. If there is a conflict of interest e.g acting for both sides and weirdly low purchase price I know they would advise their team not to touch it with a barge pole due to the risk. I know from talking to this friend that even today some solicitors think it's OK to act for both sides. They always persuade themselves apparently that there are special circumstances.

One way to approach it would be to raise a concern with the law firm themselves unless it's a really small operation and the solicitor involved is the owner/ partner in which case I would go to SRA.

It’s financial abuse of a vulnerable adult. Report to Adult safeguarding at the local authority.

Thanks for this. We have started off with a complaint to the solicitor that oversaw the sale. Depending what happens there we’ll take our next steps. It’s really shaken my faith in the systems out there to protect us. You have to fight for everything.

Not a legal expert so other a will advice. if they want possession of the house would they need to evict him so it would be a chance to speak in court.

Not a legal expert here, but a couple of other routes it might be worth exploring.

You can check with Land Registry if a mortgage has been raised on the property and who supplied it. It might be worth notifying the mortgage provider that the property was potentially obtained as a result of elder abuse/fraud and the sale is under dispute and reported to police as potential fraud.

If funds have been released from it, you could be into the territory of offences under

Fraud Act
Mortgage Fraud
Money Laundering

Given how much it was sold under market value, solicitor would have had reasonable grounds to question and undertake due diligence and could be complicit.

Also worth checking, if possible, if the builder had any other properties obtained under similar grounds to establish if there is a pattern of behavior.