Contents left in house post completion

[Ezs23]

Hi folks.
We completed and moved into our house last week finally!
The previous owners seemed to have moved out themselves or they used a terrible removals company - lots of scuffs on walls and dents/scratches in the floor. They've also left loads of holes in the walls and tonnes of cables in every room where a tv bracket and sound system has been
I don't suppose there's any point trying to get anything done about it as I just want to get on and enjoy living here but the old owners have been in touch several times now over things they think they've left behind. The first night the mother in law came round adamant they'd left a box of cutlery (they hadn't), the second time the EA rang insisting they'd left a mirror (they hadn't) and today, the husband turned up on my doorstep unannounced saying they'd left a picture behind from the bathroom. I said there was definitely nothing in there and flippantly asked 'do you want to look yourself' to which he said yes. I lost it a bit then and marched him around every room in the house and opened all the cupboards to prove to him we weren't trying to secretly steal anything of theirs even though they haven't left anything!!!!!!
Out of interest what is the position over things left in upon completion? I always thought that anything left was now your property. Either way, I'd give anything they left back as we have our own lovely things.
It's really annoying me that they keep hassling us when I've told them we don't have anything. Hopefully seeing inside will prove to him it's obviously still in a box somewhere at their new house.

Sounds like a right pain, I remember my manager at work sold a house and he said he went round filing every tiny screw and nail hole in the wall, and repainted so it was pristine for the next person.
Then he got to his new place and they'd taken the curtain rails down, speakers, you name it, and left holes every where.
In your case hopefully you'll have shown how annoying they are and they'll realise not to come back! Maybe in their mind they hadn't quite moved out.
Once you get everything sorted it'll be all forgotten and you'll have a great place!

That’s a bit annoying. In your position, I’d just bin the remaining crap, change your locks if you haven’t already and tell them to stop coming.

Frankly, I think I would have told them my thoughts on leaving the house in such a state and then having the cheek to bother you to boot

I had to pay for one of those small cloth skips to get rid of the crap the previous owner of this house left behind! She was very respectable and I didn't expect her to leave the attic full of boxes of crap and when I told the estate agent that I wanted the shed to be emptied, she sighed and passed that message on. I received a message a day or two later that the shed was empty and there was something in what wasn't said that made me suspicious but I said ok, good. It turned out she had taken things out of the shed and dumped them behind the shed! Charming. But it is not worth getting wound up over it. A 60 euro cloth skip sorts it.

There is another thread on here started by a poor woman who had a lot of stuff stolen by the removers.
At least you have shown the previous owner round the property.
I suggest you write to them, cc the EA and their solicitor confirming this fact and telling them not ti contact you again.
A friend of mine arrived to take possession of his flat, only to find the previous owner still there, having made no attempt to move out.

Sound annoying OP.
One place I moved into, they'd left quite a bit of stuff, looked like someone had either died or gone into care home. Was a bit of a pain sorting through it all but I sold a lot of it, so I didn't mind in the end. They'd left all the persons clothes in the built-in wardrobe, all sorts there was. Oh, and some dirty dishes in the sink to boot.
I was so glad to finally get in, that was the least of my worries.

Time for a sod off letter. Game over. Landlords get to be involuntary bailees when piles of crap left, but i dont think owners do.

Tell them that any more visits and they will get a small claim for breaching vacant possession.

When we moved into our current home, it was very late in the evening and the house was filthy so we couldn't stay there and stayed with family. We noticed that there were still a couple of things in the fridge including a bottle of Calpol.

When we came back the next morning the fridge was empty. We asked our solicitor to firmly request the extra set of keys back.

Dotdot how awful!! The son is a locksmith who did all the doors on this house so I'm guessing if they wanted to get in they would!
It's just left me feeling really unsettled since he came round yesterday which is really annoying as prior to that it had felt like 'home' straight away. I guess I just need to get over it. Annoying that they still live on the same estate. I keep telling myself they should be feeling embarrassed due to the way they've left the walls but I'm guessing they think it's fine considering he came round yesterday

If/when I ever move, the first thing I'll do is change the locks. Our current property is a new build (was, anyway!) but I hate the thought that someone who lived in my house before me, could have a set of keys.

Last time we moved, we left some things behind. Not that much (I didn't think) and certainly a lot less than the previous owner had left behind for us. But the buyers weren't happy and said they'd hire a skip and charge us for it. There wasn't anything like enough stuff for a skip (and we later found out they hired one anyway for themselves while they did renovations). But we went back and picked the stuff up anyway, because our solicitor advised us to; according to contracts, the vacated property is supposed to be left in a 'clean and tidy condition'.

'Last time we moved, we left some things behind. Not that much (I didn't think) and certainly a lot less than the previous owner had left behind for us'

Uptick - You make it sound like you thought it was acceptable to leave a house full of crap, just because it was less crap than the people before you left.

Op you'd figure leaving a house clean and empty would be common knowledge as you sign forms to say you will. Who signs something they don't read

I left my house immaculate, filled holes in walls, left matching paint to walls in the shed labelled up and even steam cleaned the carpets - it's a matter of pride. I really hope the next house we buy they have the same pride but I don't think it's as common as you might hope

We moved last year we got a professional cleaner in. The house we bought was quite dirty, but we were going to renovate anyway. The first thing we did was change the locks!

The old owner of my house kept popping back for stuff he'd left. Stupid git had kept threatening to put the house back on the market throughout the whole buying process so i changed the locks and told him to get lost.

I hear you on the cables hanging out of walls! Bumps, dents, scratches, scuffs. Some people just don’t care. I was heavily pregnant when we moved in so not really in a position to decorate a whole house. But thanks to my in laws that’s what we did. I won’t say it’s stood the test of time because two years later it looks a bit untidy but we didn’t have much choice but to do a quick spit and polish. The previous owner had also apparently not noticed doors that didn’t lock, carpets that were so moth eaten they had enormous holes in, windows that were impossible to see out of because they were completely blown, dodgy electrics (fairy lights through the bathroom ceiling instead of spot lights. Yes. Really). But he had hoovered. So that was something I guess...

The people we bought this house from still give me the rage 2 years on.
Left only 1 set of keys. Left the washing machine connector dripping when the removed their washer. Left for good all over the house. Dog mud splat up every wall. Split packets of food in the cupboards- think sachet of blue Dragon sauce ripped open and leaking mixed in with a ripped bag of rice. They also left squashed cartons of Ribena (leaking) on the kitchen floor. They left a dishwasher full of dirty crockery.
Upstairs a turd in the loo. More dog food in the bedrooms. Broken hangers, furry lipsticks spilt bottles of body lotion in every wardrobe.

The garden had dog shit everywhere too.
Somewhere between completion on the Friday and my parents moving in a bed for us and the following Tuesday when we arrived with removals to move in (200 mile trip) the cheeky dirty fuckers had gone back over the weekend (after completion) with the keys they never handed in and removed a selection of dirty crockery from the dishwasher. Leaving it still half full of their dirty dishes!!
I pray yo God one day I will bump into them do I can ask them why they left it in such as shit state. I also told all the neighbours the state they left the house in. I think some kept in touch with them so I hope it filtered back to them.

We moved into a house and previous owners had left the garage full of their stuff. We contacted solicitor straightaway who contacted them and gave them 5 days to remove the items or they would be charged for disposal, they came and emptied garage 2 days later with no apology for inconvenience.

My husband repainted some bits and made it look lovely for when our buyers moved in, I actually think leaving stuff behind in a property is really rude, Dont let them come in again, And change your locks asap.

Lilmisskittykat, I didn't leave a house full of crap, and I don't think it's acceptable for anyone to do that. There were a few bits and pieces left in the shed, like tiles that matched the bathroom, or odd tins of paint. Same sort of thing we found left in our current house when we moved in. But the buyers weren't happy, so we went back and got rid of it.

I just commented that the previous owners of that house had left much more because it surprises me how many people do that. They had left various pieces of junk including a small dilapidated chest freezer, and also a woman and her dog (the mil I think). They didn't come back for any of it - the mil got fed up waiting and eventually left with the dog. Probably embarrassed at having us move in around her while she sat on the stairs.

And I'll make sure I don't leave anything at all behind ever again.

When we moved in the house had been rented out to a family of 5 adults and two dogs. They clearly weren't happy about the house being sold.

When we got the keys, five days after the tenants left, we came in to a filthy house. Balls of dog hair everywhere, huge spiderwebs and spiders, floors thick in dust and food splatters all over the kitchen. They also left garlic cloves in the extractor fans (that were also full of dust), took every single light bulb, left gauges in all the lovely wooden floors, took tiles out of the fire place, left a huge heavy wardrobe upstairs, an old stained mattress, a table missing two legs, dusty moth eaten old curtains, the dishwasher was blocked with old food and full of mouldy plates and cutlery -full on white fluffy mound, the kitchen was so dirty I had to buy a wallpaper scraper to get rid of the grease. Fucking disgusting it was.

I called the estate agent who assured me that the vendor had been in and checked the property after the tenants had left and had paid for a cleaner too. I sent photos to her and copied in our solicitor. The estate agent called me back within minutes of receiving the email and I honestly think she was angrier than I was. We managed to get the vendor to pay for a deep clean of the house and pay for a night in a hotel for us.

I put the wardrobe on a Facebook selling site and the woman who had lived here commented saying that what I was doing was theft and told people not to buy it, then sent me abusive messages. I went out the next day and came back after a few hours to find that the wardrobe had gone. No break in, they clearly had a set of keys still. Called the estate agent again and the police. Apparently they had been waiting for me to leave, sat in their car parked down the road. They thought it was ok because it was their property and they used a key to get in. Couldn't quite understand that it may have once belonged to them but their "property" was now taking up space in our property. Locks were changed immediately! Which we were planning on doing but a few days later.

I saw the mum and one of her sons in our local shop and she hid from me!

SaveBandit - omg. They sound worse than my vendors. I suspect our vendors say and watched our house too do they could get the stuff out the dishwasher thry left behind.
I can only assume the reason they didn't knock on the door and jyst ask was embarrassment at the vile state they left the house in.

I had to mop the kitchen floor cupboards before I could wipe them down they were that dirty. This was made more difficult when I discovered the boiler hadn’t worked for a long time even though they had signed it was working.

The amount of crap left in the loft. It must have surely been easier for them to take it to the tip (they had cars) then it was to put it up there.

Oh and someone from the street behind knocked on and asked if I wanted 'my' spare key back

When I moved into my first house we discovered that the previous owner sawed through the lead gas pipe rather than get it capped. Fortunately it was discovered before we tried lighting the fire but we couldn't get any heat or hot water and had to pay for an emergency plumber the weekend before Christmas. 🙄 It was a very very long time ago but still gives me the rage when I think about it 😂

@TheInvisiblePieceofShit Honestly they were awful. I found a dog hair the other day and felt sick. We are in the process of getting someone out to replace all the radiators because they are just full of dust and hair and webs and bugs.

I would have been mortified if I'd left somewhere like that and then saw the person. DH told me to reply to her comments on Facebook with a picture of the filthiest parts of the house and the contents of the dishwasher and ask her if she wanted all that back to! I didn't but I'm sure she wouldn't have been embarrassed in the slightest.

OMW!! Yes I'm still finding dog hair. I also hot a whiff of thrir dog a few weeks back after the house had been shut up for a week!! We are gradually replacing radiators too for the same reason as you.