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Original poster

The couple who bought our house are lying and asking for compensation?

200 replies

KitKat1985 · 30/04/2018 09:44

Hello.

Moved house a couple of weeks ago. Our buyers had been quite hard work all along (being very slow to do everything, holding the whole chain up, and just being a bit 'odd' generally), and we were pleased to have the whole thing over with. They were also quite 'odd' in the fact that they did an initial viewing with me back in August (agent not available) and were only in the house about 10 mins and had a quick look around only. I thought this was fairly standard for an initial viewing and assumed they would come back at some point to do a more detailed viewing when the agent was available, get a survey done etc. However they never in the entire conveyancing process (which was over 6 months) asked to come back for a second viewing or asked for a survey to be completed (bar their mortgage company which did a valuation survey, which came back with no issues). The property was priced to reflect the fact that some bits in the house needed replacing (a couple of tears in the lounge carpet, some cosmetic water damage to the shower, some paintwork a bit flaky etc, and the fitted oven was 10 years old and had seen better days, etc). We then got a letter through last week, forwarded on from their solicitor, to say the property was dirty when they moved in (it wasn't, and I have photos that prove it) and they want compensation for the fact that they've had to replace the oven and that the house needs some work doing to it. ALL the issues that they have mentioned were there when they viewed the house in August (although they looked around so briefly they probably didn't even notice) and was reflected in the asking price.

I've replied to my solicitor strongly disputing the fact that the house was left dirty (with photos I took of the vacated property), and explaining that all the work that needed doing to the house was there when they viewed the house, and was reflected in the asking price, and I'm therefore not prepared to offer any compensation.

They can't pursue this surely? Where do we stand on this?

OP posts:
Elendon · 30/04/2018 10:36

In the letter from their solicitor they said the house was so dirty they couldn't move into it.

That is ridiculous. It's clear this isn't the case.

BitOutOfPractice · 30/04/2018 10:39

I'd say they are chancers OP

Though I have t say your solicitor sounds useless as well

GnotherGnu · 30/04/2018 10:40

You can bet that it never occurred to them that you would have taken photographs - they banked on the fact that you wouldn't be able to disprove what they say.

If this carries on, ask your solicitor to respond once more referring to the Caveat Emptor rule and tell them you won't be discussing this any further. Make it clear to your solicitor that he is not instructed to do any more than that so you don't run up further fees.

3stonedown · 30/04/2018 10:42

I don't have any advice but I am angry on your behalf! You should just ignore them but I would find it hard to.

Tigerblue · 30/04/2018 10:43

As I understand it you don't have to declare anything about your property unless you want to or are specifically asked. Therefore, it's up to the purchasers to rely on their own survey, do viewings and ask questions about anything that comes up from those viewings or survey. It's also great you have photos.

Your solicitor is only passing on details of what's been sent to them. I'd half be tempted not to bother replying as I don't think they have a leg to stand on, have a quick chat with your solicitor but for me it'd be along the lines of referring buyer to their own inspection and survey.

Elendon · 30/04/2018 10:43

On exchange day on moving into our flat in London the owners were still there! That took some cleaning.

Our previous Landlord came to see us about giving us back our deposit and said the flat was so filthy he wouldn't be giving us back the full amount. This was a lie as we got cleaners in but in the end we couldn't be bothered arguing with him - this was before the deposit scheme.

TomRavenscroft · 30/04/2018 10:45

They're a pair of chancers. Your solicitor sounds rather passive though. Have you had a proper chat with him/her about it?

CookPassBabtridge · 30/04/2018 10:46

Well done for taking the photos, you can tell it is clearly spotless. They haven't got a leg to stand on. But how frustrating and worrying for you, you thought you were rid of them but they just keep on giving! I don't get why some people are so fucking odd/cheeky fuckers.

ellsbells2 · 30/04/2018 10:46

You are not obliged to leave a clean property anyway. Most people do out of common courtesy but no legal requirement.

They do not have a leg to stand on, there is nothing in their claim that has any standing. Even if the oven hadn't been working, unless they'd asked you specifically if it was then they still couldn't claim.

They bought a house as seen and that's exactly what they've got.

Original poster
KitKat1985 · 30/04/2018 10:48

Thanks. To be honest our solicitor has been very good. In fact I'm wondering if he was a bit dubious about their claims which is why he didn't say much in his correspondence to me (they had lied repeatedly in the conveyancing process saying they had done various things which they hadn't, the most significant of which being that they must have fibbed about their finances when they viewed the house as after weeks of delays and excuses in conveyancing we found out they had been turned down for two mortgages due to their shitty finances, and nearly caused the whole chain to collapse).

OP posts:
trixymalixy · 30/04/2018 10:51

The folk that bought our flat tried this kind of nonsense. We had stupidly given them our address.

They said we owed them money for some damp proofing work that they needed to have done.

They sent us the demand on letterheaded paper that claimed to be from the advocates library that the DH worked in, but it looked like it was printed on a dot matrix printer.

By bypassing both solicitors and sending on headed paper they were trying to intimidate us into paying up.

Our solicitor just laughed and said they didn't have a leg to stand on.

They then contacted us to say they had a parcel for us and wouldn't release it unless we paid up. We got the royal mail involved and the community policeman. So make sure you have a long redirect on your mail.

Sunafterstorm · 30/04/2018 10:55

We had the same experience as a previous poster. We had seen the central heating working when we viewed and when we moved in the boiler was dead as a dodo. House was really filthy, stank of cat wee. Our solicitor also said we didn't stand a chance as no one could prove exactly when the boiler broke down. The poor cleaning was just bad luck.
He too said Caveat emptor.

8misskitty8 · 30/04/2018 10:57

They can’t do anything op.

In our current house, it was filthy when we moved in. Including mound in the fridge, and poo inside and on the toilet seat.
The bath also had a crack in it, so unusable until it got a patch repair by a plumber. (Still wonder how the previous owners managed to keep clean ) There was a bathmat covering it when we viewed. Toilet carpet wet with piss. It was like once the paperwork went through they decided to make mess and not clean anything.
I cried that night after we got the keys. We were living with the in laws with 2 small children after selling our own place. (Which they knew)

It was awful.We could do nothing about it. Still seeth about it 6 years later.

PlumsGalore · 30/04/2018 11:01

Your house was spotless OP please don't give it another thought. I am sure your solicitor will write to their solicitor and email the pictures and then they will crawl back under the hole them came out from.

Enjoy your new house!

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 30/04/2018 11:02

Absolutely certain there’s nothing they can do even if it has been left in a state.

Don’t give it another thought OP.

IJustHadToNameChange · 30/04/2018 11:02

Caveat emptor.

They bought, effectively sight unseen and without a proper survey.

Their solicitor would have advised them every step along the way and any problems are on them now the place has been sold.

Don't bother responding.

greedygorb · 30/04/2018 11:03

The solicitor will have an obligation to pass on the letter I think. When we sold we got the same about a blocked sewage pipe in the tenement flat we had sold about a month before. Our solicitor told us he had to pass it on but basically they were cheeky bastards chancing their arm and both he and the other solicitor knew it but were doing as instructed.

I'm in Scotland and when we've bought you get 2 days to make sure everything works- so you're told to crank the heating on to full etc and report it immediately. Our last sellers removed curtain poles, curtains, a fridge freezer etc and although they weren't meant to the solicitor said it wouldn't be worth the cost of chasing them unless it was something big. Like a roof.

MaggieFS · 30/04/2018 11:07

Your solicitor has done what he's obliged to do which is pass it on to you. I'd now call him up and understand if you have to reply, and also what he'd charge if he did the reply for you. I strongly suspect he'll say you can send a brief letter yourself which says 1. Don't agree the house was a mess, see photos and 2. Nothing is any different to as detailed in sellers info packs. Don't offer to do anything and don't make it lengthy. Put the ball back in their court. Hopefully your solicitor won't charge you for telling you that, but would if you started asking him to do a letter.

They're being CF and probably just seeing what they can get by sending an ' official' letter.

mustbemad17 · 30/04/2018 11:08

The only time i've known of someone chase compensation (and win) is over the seller lying about the boiler. Something along the lines of it being well maintained, regularly serviced with no issues...a friend moved in & the place flooded days later. Plumber arrived & showed her that the sellers must have known it was faulty because of various things that had been done to it to avoid replacing it. Because it was actively questioned & in writing, she was given compensation as they clearly lied.

Unless you have stated specifically that the things they are whinging about are better than they are, they are being cf

nellieellie · 30/04/2018 11:11

No, they can’t sue. They can only take action if you have failed to disclose something on or gave inaccurate information on the Propery Information form /Sellers Information form. As to condition of property, that is why people get surveys. I wouldnt even bother to reply. They have obviously gone to their solicitor who will have advised them that there’s nothing they can do. They will have been all outraged and s/he will then have said, “well, I can write a letter”.

Sparklehead · 30/04/2018 11:16

We had exactly this issue when selling our last house. The buyers came to look at it once, and then got a friend to do a survey, rather than a proper surveyor. We weren’t living in the house at the time and said that they were welcome to go round as often as they needed to check stuff/measure up, etc but they declined. The sale reflected that it needed some work but it wasn’t in a bad condition.
A few weeks after we sold, our solicitor got a letter from their solicitor requesting £2000 compensation for the poor state that the house was in (it wasn’t) and for the fact that the boiler wasn’t working when they first moved in. Our solicitor wrote back saying no, and we thought that would be the end of it.
Then a week or so later, I got a call from the buyer (to this day, I have no idea how she got my number, I’d never even met her), accusing me of all sorts of things. It was really horrible and upsetting. I kept repeating that she needed to go through our solicitor if she wanted to pursue things and finally managed to get off the phone from her. Never heard from her again, but the whole thing left a very nasty taste in my mouth. OP, just remember, that they haven’t got a leg to stand on, and try to put it to the back of your mind. All the best.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 30/04/2018 11:16

If I were to complain about the cleanliness of a property when I moved in (which is pretty pointless), my letter of complaint would include photos of the filthy loo etc.
Their's didn't and we know why!

Elendon · 30/04/2018 11:22

If, for example, a seller failed to comply truthfully on a TA6 form, say regarding Japanese Knotweed, then there is an avenue for compensation, but there would be the added costs of the solicitor's fees.

To pay a solicitor to send this letter is petty and arrogant. Ignore.

Blobby10 · 30/04/2018 11:22

We had some emails from the person we sold our house to claiming the place was infested with fleas and they had to rip up all the carpets downstairs. They also claimed that the place was dirty and in poor decorative order. It wasn't dirty as, like OP, I and my MIL and her friend had worked our fingers to the bone making the wretched place spotless as we left! the 'poor decorative order' claim came from some chipped paint on the bottom of the stairs.

We ignored them and they went away.

Original poster
KitKat1985 · 30/04/2018 11:27

Thanks. I do feel reassured by your replies that they don't have grounds for perusing this.

I am royally furious with them though for lying so blatantly (because invariably some people will believe them, or at least assume 'there's no smoke without fire'). We had even left the curtain poles, curtains, blinds and bathroom fittings etc for free for them, (which we could have obviously charged for or removed) but were trying to be nice and minimise hassle to all involved.

OP posts: