What's the legal position about stuff left behind in our new house?

[wilbur]

We've just completed on a new house and have found that the vendors, who were very difficult throughout the process and are currently trying to sue us for breach of contract as they say our money arrived 10 minutes late on completion day (which, actually, it didn't), have left behind a ton of crappy furniture, not usable at all just stuff from rooms that they rented out, inc matresses and an old fridge. I am really pissed off as we hardly have time to get rid of this stuff as we are due to move in very soon, however I want to make sure that if I do sell it or take it to the tip, they can't come back and say they were planning to pick it up later and sue us for that too. (It's the kind of thing they would do.) Does anyone know? I assume that once the house is ours, the contents are ours too?

Could you send a letter, copy it to your solicitor, saying they have 21 days to remove the from the house or it will be removed and you will send a bill for the removal costs. Don't know how you actually chase that money though really - assuming it's a smallish amount

We had stuff like that left with a note saying someone from local charity was going to pick it up. of course they didnt and we ended up having to hire a van to take it to the tip.id personally get a van and go and drop it off on thier new doorstep

Technically, when you purchase a property you are entitled to vacant possession. This means that the property is empty of anyone else's possessions or people occupying the property. If I were you, I would get your solicitor to send their's a letter demanding that they pick up the unwanted stuff within 7 days, failing which you will employ someone to remove in at their expense, i.e. you will send them the bill. Of course, you would need to know their new address to forward the bill, and, if they don't pay it, you would them have to sue them through the small claims court.

This is all a lot of hassle so you need to decide whether it is worth it. It might be simpler to get the local council to come and collect all the cr*p.

I'd get the solicitor to write the letter just to cover myself should they complain later.

I had this with my old house, the woman left absolute disgusting tat, moth eaten furry rugs, an aviary uncleaned stil with birds in it.. loads more besides
I called my solicitor who called hers threatening legal action unless stuff removed immediately at their cost., she called her client and out she came with her bloke to collect it..
not happily though...
It is actionable!

Thanks for that. Good idea about a solicitor's letter, I will do that and send it to their solicitor, but I think we will just get rid of it ourselves rather than wait for them. Dh's mother has a trailer for her car so we can load that up and do a couple of tip trips. Vendors haven't left a forwarding address (not surprised at that) and I know they were moving to a rented place so presumably just don't care. Left the place filthy too, grrr. Some people are just weird.

we have some prat trying to windle money out of us atm for stuff at our old house. He is apparently taking us to small claims court but I havent replied to his letter so he may not even know where we live.

We have moved into a house and there was loads of stuff left behind. We have cleared the house ourselves. I really dont understand all this writing solicitors letters thing, maybe because I am on the receiving end of it and have never pestered anyone else for money myself. We left our house empty and clean. there was some garden waste though that had been there years, would like to know really what he is going to do about it.

Since you have completed already I am pretty sure that anything left behind is yours. I would assume that you have every right to dipose of it how you wish. It is a pain in the neck, but since there was no stipulation about it prior to completion I doubt either side can come back on this - ie you cannot sue them for the costs involved in dispposal, but they cannot sue you for disposing of it. Personally I wouldn't bother with a solicitors letter, since it costs money and just chuck the stuff myself. I might inform my solicetor and ask them to 'inform' the vendor as long as it didn't cost me.

You had better be careful and consult your solicitor before disposing of the things your seller left behind. They are considered 'chattels' (as opposed to 'fixtures and fittings' and chattels are never included in the sale unless specifically mentioned as part of the contract. So you may not actually own them as a result of buying the house. It's a bit like the nonsense of what happens if a neighbour's tree overhangs your garden: you are allowed to cut down the overhanging bits, but they are not your property and technically you're not allowed to touch them once they have been cut off, not even to return them to the neighbour!

rogue smiley

Be careful how you word it.I asked my solicitor to request that our seller remove the derelict drive from the car before completion ,she did this only to get back to me saying that is the lady's car!!!!!V embaressing as I had to go round the next day to do some measuring

meant car from drive not vice versa!

lol noddy! I think I will just write a letter myself to their solicitor listing what they have left behind and saying I am going to get rid of it in one week. That way I give them a chance to collect their "chattels" and then I can do what I like with them.

I too had this problem and you need to decide what course of action you wish to pursue. It cost me £120 to get someone to come and clear the stuff away that was left behind as there was virtually a skipful. I did get my solicitor to write to their solicitor but neither solicitor wanted anything to do with it as technically this was an issue between us and the vendors. The vendors came back and refused to compensate us and our solicitor advised our only course of action was to issue a Councy Court Judgment providing we had their address which their solicitor certainly wasnt going to release. In the end it seemed too much hassle and I put it down to a lesson well learnt that next time I buy I will demand to inspect the premises before completion. If you are going to just get rid of the stuff you are going to find it hard to be recompensed for the inconvenience unless you have proof of the amount of items concerned. If you could get hold of their address even if it's rented you can issue a CCJ (it will cost you £25 but you'll get that back) but you'll probably need to itemise the stuff left and if you pay someone to remove it they can countersign to say what they have taken but if you're going to dump it yourself I cant see that you're going to get too much money back.

Thanks for that, trifle. I'm not really looking for compensation just protection that the b*ggers won't turn up on my doorstep in a month saying they want their stuff. A couple of things are quite usable and I will try and sell them - the vendors are those kind of money grubbers who would wring cash out of a stone and I'm sure if they suddenly decide they want the desk or bed or whatever they would turn up and demand it. They put the price of the house up a week before completion and stuff like that and also took not only the door knocker but the letterbox plate and the door handle too! Leaving the furniture was the last in a long line of annoying behaviour.

They do sound like b*ds! Taking the door furniture was certainly illegal, as it is considered part of the door. If they took it they should have replaced it with other door furniture, even if only cheapo stuff. I hope you've changed all the locks!