Car left on our property - help please!

[ameliaesmith]

DH and I have recently bought a house, we've spent the last week clearing out all the junk they left. They also left a car in the drive which clearly hasnt been used for almost two years. Have contacted the seller to ask him to remove it, he said its the tenants. We're waiting for them to come and take it but I suspect they wont as its probably too much of an expensive liability. What can we do? We have no keys or documentation for it.

Thanks

Ring the solicitor who felt with the sale!
I would imagine it will be very difficult to deal with a car with no paperwork or keys.

I'd ring your solicitors and ask them to look into it - it should have been specified on the sale that they would remove all their crap surely?

I can't see that it matters if its the tennants - you bought from him, its his problem.

101 for advice? Or is it likely to be a civil matter?

Your solicitor should deal with this.

Yes we did specifically ask them to make sure all rubbish and the car was removed before completion. They assured us it all would be got rid of, surprise surprise everything was still there!

tell them you are arranging to have it moved off you property and onto the public road, with their contact details pasted onto the windscreen. they can deal with from there.

Does it have tax or an MOT? If not, most local councils will remove dumped cars for a small fee - usually around £50 (which I would pass back to the previous owner; not your problem his tenants left it there).

Google your local council name + dumped cars.

You could contact your local council for advice.

Thanks everyone will give the council a ring and see what they say. DH thinks its could be worth a few quid though, dont think there's anyway we can claim ownership is there? TBH I dont want it either way!

scrap cars are almost worthless now.

it is for the seller to remove, kick your solicitor. You should already have done so, you bought a house with vacant possession which means 'not full of shit'.

or speak to your council, tell them it is abandoned; this may be easier.

Are you going to contact your solicitor?

I would see if I could get £70 scrap for it by someone who comes and picks it up. Failing that I would push it onto the street and then report it as an untaxed car.

I wouldn't ring the council because one you do it will be logged and will be your problem and the last option above probably won't be do'able.

I would just call the solicitor who sorted the sale and get them to deal with it.

Ring your solicitor, I can't work out why you wouldn't do this. It's for them to sort out.

Why are you going to call the Council when about 15 people have told you to call your solicitor?

When we moved, our sellers had left loads of stuff in the house and garage.
We contacted the estate agent to confirm what had been left, then arranged through the solicitors for the vendors to pay a for a skip for their rubbish to be dumped in,

Yes ring solicitor. Breach of contract, you paid for an empty house, you haven't got one. Why would you ring council?

I was going to call the council because LBOCS2 said; "Does it have tax or an MOT? If not, most local councils will remove dumped cars for a small fee - usually around £50 (which I would pass back to the previous owner; not your problem his tenants left it there).

Google your local council name + dumped cars."

Seems like a convenient service. But Solicitor would be better? I have spoken previously to the solicitor and they were no good they just informed me that the seller has said it is the tenants car.

It makes no difference that the seller said it's the tenant's car - the seller was selling you the house with vacant possession so it's his responsibility to make sure nothing was left there. He has breached the sale contract and your solicitor is failing you by not dealing with it correctly. You should not be expected to pick up the costs involved, although I do appreciate if you just want it gone, then it might be easier to pay £50 if that gets it solved. Not sure council can do anything if the car is parked on private land anyway? If your solicitor is rubbish (and make sure tell him that he is) then speak to the estate agent too and get them to put pressure on the seller. And always remember - VACANT POSSESSION

We are in Bristol - this is from council website:

The vehicle is abandoned on private land - what do I do?

Vehicles on private land present a different case to those on the public highway, in that the Council has no direct powers to remove vehicles on private land. The Council can only remove vehicles from private land if the request comes from the Land Owner, subject to a few conditions.

If a Land Owner wants a vehicle removed from their property, the Land Owner has similar legal obligations as the Council, and must try and trace the owner of the vehicle. As with the Council, a Land Owner can contact the DVLA to request them to trace the owner. If these actions are unsuccessful you can contact the Police to see if they have any interest in the vehicle. The Land Owner has the right to remove the vehicle.

Bristol City Council will remove a vehicle on behalf of a Land Owner providing the Land Owner can show that they have made all reasonable efforts to contact the vehicle owner (for example, quoting a police incident number and providing the Council with copies of any correspondence the Land Owner may have received).

It is a breach of contract and you could go down this road with your solicitor and you are perfectly entitled to. Doesn't matter that it's the tenants car - it's for the seller to ensure its moved. However, that is of course going to cost money with solicitors fees and, if the seller doesn't know where the tenant now is it the tenant won't play ball with collecting it, there's no quick solution.

Council may not be much help with a car on private land, as previous poster indicated. Can the car be "bumped" off your drive onto a public road? I know it will probably have a handbrake on, but I've seen smaller cars moved with handbrake on with a sort of bouncing action (DH informs me him and his friends used to regularly wind up one of them who drive a mini be moving it from where he'd parked it using this method!). That way you could ring the council and say that there's a car outside your property that the seller tells you has been there for ages and is the tenants, but it seems to have been dumped (whilst forgetting to mention that it was on your drive, so you're not responsible for it now being on a public road - "outside the property" covers all bases!)

Exactly eternalopt I was about to suggest the same!

The owner would have to prove they did not leave it there. I doubt they could.