Help being taken to small claims court.

[FBIsMostWanted]

I inherited a flat from my great aunt and have just sold it. The FTB that bought it wanted most of the furniture and as I already have a house and don’t need it I agreed to leave most things. Most of the furniture is 15 plus years old but my aunt had amazing taste and didn’t stint on quality.
One of the things left was a sofa bed, probably @10 years old and I’ve never used it.
The FTB are now requesting £1500 as the sofa bed mechanism doesn’t work so won’t pull out. They are pissed!
At first they text me wanting money and when I said that the sofa wasn’t integral and wasn’t paid for so I wasn’t going to buy them a new sofa they have gone to the small claims court.
I have spoken with my solicitor and he said that they never asked for the condition of the sofa and didn’t pay money for the sofa so they don’t have a leg to stand in but do they? Would the courts side with them?
I have no receipts for the furniture and didn’t even know about the bed not working.
Anyone experienced anything like this?

Furniture comes under fittings. As does curtains and poles.

Fittings - examples lists sofas and beds

No, they still don't have a leg to stand on.

When you buy second hand goods from a private seller, the only protection you have is that the goods must match any description given by the seller. The seller does not have to disclose faults, but they cannot make false claims.

OP left a sofa bed. She did not claim it was free from faults or in any way misrepresent its condition. The buyers therefore don't have a claim regardless of whether they paid for it.

If it doesn't function as a sofabed, it isn't a sofa bed, it is a sofa!

No, it is a faulty sofa bed.

The position is exactly the same as buying a second hand car from a private seller and finding that the engine blows up after 1 mile. The car is no longer functional, but you have no come back against the seller unless they mis-described the car.

Surely this is the basic defence for this

caveat emptor

noun
1 the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitabilityy_ of goods before a purchase is made."caveat emptor still applies when you are buying your house"

www.amicuslaw.co.uk/caveat-emptor-buyer-beware/#:~:text=All%20property%20transactions%20are%20subject,should%20have%20known%20about%20it'.

Changes in legislation mean caveat emptor doesn't apply as often as it used to. However, for second hand goods being sold privately, the buyer can only make a claim against the seller if the goods do not match the description.

Thank you for all your message. I get where some people are coming from saying I added it to the form therefore it forms part of the sale. I get it but my conveyancing Sol has said that it wasn’t integral and they didn’t ask for the condition so no recourse.
As for caveat emptor, I don’t think this applies as it was sold for a monetary sum. Even if I had totally cleared the flat it would still have been the same price no further negotiations would have happened.
Another thing I am hoping for is that the sofas were over 10 years old so a reasonable person would not assume a 10/15 year old sofa bed would be perfect. They knew how old they were.
I just wish I’d cleared the flat no instead of trying to do something nice, well that’s bitten me in the bum!

*wasn’t sold for money.

Check the directions the court has issued. I suspect they include a requirement that the parties produce any documents they intend to rely on well in advance of the hearing. There's an obvious reason for that - it's basic fairness, and gives you a chance to check them out. For all you know, they could be complete forgeries, after all.

They could get a nasty shock if they suddenly produce the reports on the day of the hearing and find that the judge refuses to consider them because they've left it too late.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!

Buyer Beware!
I can't believe your solicitor didn't tell them to take a running jump over this.

They should have checked that it was working before handing over their cold hard cash. That is basic Sale of Goods & Supply of Services Act knowledge (or whatever the act may have been refreshed to in recent years).

If you have to attend Court, I'd go in and say that the items were "sold as seen". They want a sofa bed, they can bloody buy a new one! It's not your responsibility to provide them with furniture (you could have sold them the flat with nothing in it, and in future, you may want to do that for any other property you may have) because the stuff they wanted, that was already in the flat was broken.

Also, why didn't they cut their losses if the sofa bed couldn't be fixed and just buy one themselves to replace it?

My understanding (having bought a fully furnished show house to move in to) is that once the contract is signed, and the keys are handed over, your responsibility for everything in the flat ceases. I'm really surprised at how your solicitor has entertained these 'issues' from these owners.

They didn't hand over any additional cash for this. These were goods left in the house for no additional charge after the price had been agreed.

To say yet again, caveat emptor only has limited scope and mainly applies to buying property. There is no Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act and never has been. And basic knowledge of the Sale of Goods Act (which does exist) would tell you that it doesn't say what you think it does.

OP should absolutely not tell the court that the items were "sold as seen". That phrase carries no legal weight whatsoever.

OP's solicitor has not "entertained" these issues. I have no idea why you say that.

As you have bought a fully furnished show house, you have more rights than you seem to think. You are in the same position as if you had purchased the furniture from a shop.

However, when you buy secondhand goods from a private seller, you only have a claim against the seller if the goods do not match any description that was given.

I understood that @OVienna, that they hadn't even paid extra for these additional items of furniture.

If I were you @FBIsMostWanted, what I would do is give the occupants a final offer - you'll cover the cost for removal men to enter their new home and collect all of the furniture that was left (don't leave a scrap behind) or they can withdraw their claim. You are no longer going to waste any more of the valuable courts time (or get your solicitor to do it). I'm gobsmacked how they are thinking they have a leg to stand on at this point.

Do not give an offer

This is admitting liability!!

This is ridiculous advice

Don’t offer them anything.

So how long do they think before it will get to court @FBIsMostWanted

LIterally just do what the actual lawyer on this thread, @prh47bridge has suggested and leave it at that.

Would Citizens Advice be able to provide any help?

They cannot give legal advice

Absolute madness.

No good deed goes unpunished!

You sold them the property for a price and agreed to leave some of the furniture in situ but didn't ask for anything extra for it. So it was free.

I suppose you could have agreed in mediation to refund them what they paid for the furniture. Which was £0

I expect they thought about knocking down the price of the property originally but when the furniture was included (at no extra charge) they decided not to reduce their offer.

Therefore in their heads they think they paid for the furniture because they paid more than they initially intended.

That's on them. How can they be demanding money for what was a free gift.

Stand your ground and make sure you have the sale details and particulars to show the judge.

Dear God, are the mediators people without any knowledge of the law?? I can't see how it's got past mediation??

i think common sense left the building in 2020 & never returned!!

@FBIsMostWanted I'm sorry your good turn has turned into this hassle.

Mediators don't make decisions. They simply try to help the parties reach an agreement. If the parties don't agree (as is the case here), the plaintiff (OP's buyers) can take it to court.

Not making a drama to ask for advice/reassurance. Relax a little.