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Can they get out of this? after signing contracts

6 replies

Bananaknickers · 17/07/2006 18:08

My brother and wife are buying their first home.They have signed contracts with the vendors after the vendors completed the forms of whats they are leaving ect ( I think it is called).After the signing it has come to light that the vendors owe £6000 to the man who owns the land at the back of the house.The land gives access to the garages. The vendors wont or can't pay and brother needs to leave his rented flat at the end of the month.He has so far paid out 1700 fees, will need to put his funiture in storage and is homeless.This has been going on since April. Any thoughts please.They really want the house but the stress is enormous

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SpaceCadet · 17/07/2006 18:12

im guessing you mean they have exchanged???
you can get out of the sale once exchange has taken place, but you lose your deposit, i dont know the legal ins and outs of the owed money though, so hopefully someone will be along soon who can amswer that.

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Twiglett · 17/07/2006 18:15

sue the solicitors .. this should have come up before exchange ... it is not the purchasers fault .. so either the solicitors hold back 6K of the already agreed purchase price to pay off this debt or something else should happen .. but your brother and wife should be able to complete with no further costs to them

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mazzystar · 17/07/2006 18:19

sorry to be dim, is it that vendors are trying to sell something that isn't actually theirs - ie the land? if so, i reckon twig's right, solicitors are at fault. otherwise not sure i understand why the previous occumpants debt would affect your brother.

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Blu · 17/07/2006 18:37

If they have exchanged contracts, and the vendors are then unable to continue with the sale on the terms agreed, then the vendors will have to pay your brother any expenses he has incurred.
Surely your brothers solicitor is advising him?

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Bananaknickers · 18/07/2006 09:20

hi thanks for the replies. He has signed but they haven't exchanged. They signed them 6 weeks ago.The sol is just saying to them "if you can't wait then look for another house then". It dosen't make sense to me.They haven't even had contact with her for 3 weeks.She never returns calls

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Blu · 18/07/2006 12:25

This is one of the frustrations of house sales, I'm afraid. The exchange will be delayed until the debt matter is sorted out, but as far as I know, anything can happen until contracts have been exchanged. So your brother may want to look for another property to buy, or persist with this one. Either way, he won't be ready to move in before he has to leave his rented flat unless he extends the lease.
The vendors do sound quite dodgy.