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

[KitKat1985]

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?

@KitKat1985 you poor thing after all the hassle they caused. I can't add any more advice than what you've already received. Don't waste anymore stress or thought on this (thank God you too pictures - great idea)!

(Didn't the people you buy off keep you waiting to move in on completion day or am I thinking of someone else on here?).

Solicitor should have advised them they have no hope, but they may have hoped for a quick pay off (ie you give them a bit of cash to drop it) and told him to go ahead and send the letter.

Ignore, ignore ignore. Total bullshit, they have no right to sue anyone for any of that, their solicitor is just trying to make some money off their ignorance.

I've heard it said that when somebody tries to bully you by sending solicitors letters (which cost them £x each) you can run up their bills by sending numerous letters of reply (one for each point they raise) a week or so apart, expressing puzzlement, asking for clarification, disclaiming responsibility (admit nothing) and their bill will go up with every letter.

I've never tried it.

Thank you for all of your replies. Given the chain of communication takes a few days (I.E I write to my solicitor, who communicates with their solicitor, who communicates with buyers; and vice versa) I suspect they shall get my reply today or tomorrow saying I'm not prepared to offer any compensation. Would love to see the bloody look on their lying faces when they see I took photos of the vacated house which clearly show that they are lying about it being dirty Will be interesting to see if they just drop it at that point or if they try and push it further. I truly hope they just drop it. Me and DH have had a stressful year (aside from the move we both work full time whilst juggling looking after a 3 year old and 18 month which is hard enough, and we've had some upsetting times in the past year with my Dad dying and my 3 year old having significant developmental issues and being assessed for ASD). I was just really hoping the whole moving / conveyancing stress at least was done with now, and would like to just put the whole thing to bed and move on with settling into our new home.

I'll update this thread if I hear anything further from them.

They're obviously a bit thick, anyone would think they were acting like it was a rental! Bet they were nightmare tenants at some point...

Even if it was dirty, so what? They had to clean it. What do they want you to do about it?

People are weird, and VSC sound weirder than most. Don’t give it another thought. for you, why a rubbish letter to get.

Oh god, I've just realised who they are. We were in the buying/chain threads at the same time!

Wankbadgers indeed!

wish mine has been a fraction of the standard of the one you left when I moved in, looked and smelled like multiple creature had died and rotted in it when got it!!

I doubt you'll hear back - CFs are often lazyFs too and once they realise they've been rumbled will probably chance their hand elsewhere.

Incidentally, a week or so after we sold our previous home our solicitor got a letter from the buyer's solicitor claiming the boiler didn't work and in the opinion of a guy he'd had round "hadn't worked for quite some time" and would we like to make a contribution to a new one?! It worked totally fine and on the day of completion DH had turned it off. He told solicitor this and even offered to pop round to help the guy restart the boiler as sometimes it could be difficult. Our Solicitor totally advised against it and told us the buyer hadn't a leg to stand on. Our solicitor wrote to say we weren't going to contribute and we never heard from the guy again. I just think he genuinely couldn't get it started but the claim it hadn't worked for ages got my back up.

[Waves to PickAChew and others from the 'In Chain' thread].

Yes, it is indeed 'VSC' couple who are still managing to be dicks even after completion. Frankly, after the months worth of stress and hassle they gave us, I think they should be giving us compensation! Lol!

I like PigletJohn's comment upthread: "I've heard it said that when somebody tries to bully you by sending solicitors letters (which cost them £x each) you can run up their bills by sending numerous letters of reply (one for each point they raise) a week or so apart, expressing puzzlement, asking for clarification, disclaiming responsibility (admit nothing) and their bill will go up with every letter."

That'll teach them

The letter they got their solicitor to write says the house was 'extremely dirty throughout' which is just ridiculous

Have you Google searched their solicitor ? Do they exist ?

Paying for a solicitor to write a letter remarking that the house wasn't clean, among other things is, frankly, ridiculous.

It's to late to want compensation. The whole thing is odd.

They like a saga, IMO.

I can't see what grounds they have for wanting compensation.

My husband kept cleaning a house we had sold and were moving out of. I was more interested in the moving out process, not faffing around with a dustpan and brush.

In the end I screamed at him, 'the house will not be clean enough for Mrs Buyer. It will only be clean enough for Mrs Buyer when it has been cleaned, probably by Mrs Buyer herself.' (Last name not Buyer, just used this to illustrate my point)

The house was, 'ok' it was, 'good enough'. I guarantee our buyers would have said among themselves, 'the first thing this house needs is a good clean.' That's probably part of the psychology of starting to make the house theirs.

I realise you are upset. Especially as it's an official letter. However, take some deep breaths, let the emotion out of the situation, then when you have calmed down you can reply thus:

Dear Purchaser,
I cleaned the house to a good standard (high standard - your choice of wording). I have enclosed photos as proof - evidence (again, your choice of wording.)

The house was sold as seen.

I do not accept you have grounds for compensation of any sort from me.

Yours truly

now fuck off/jog on - your choice.

There's a reply, prior to mine which I now can't find on this thread that gets the point across much more forcefully than me.

Just tell 'em to do one. Honestly, what planet are some people on ?

I've arrived in the thread too late to see the photos, but from others' reactions to them, I wish I'd bought my house off you! They're clearly CF who have overstretched themselves and are looking for a bit of cash back to get them through to their next mortgage payment.

On my moving day, I cleaned my house from top to bottom as the removal guys cleared each room. I left a "New Home" card and a bottle of bubbly for my buyers, as well as detailed notes about how everything worked, and a telephone number to contact me on if they had any problems.

Then I turned up in my new house. It wasn't totally disastrous, but I definitely had to clean two houses on my moving day!

The previous owner had a teenage boy, and I really don't want to know what substance had been used to create a crusty layer on the back of the wardrobe door handle - not envy

The kitchen was filthy, and the oven... well... when we eventually hired an oven cleaner to come round (after all the encrusted shit set the smoke alarm off every time we cooked), he commented that in all his years he'd never seen an oven so bad. Needless to say we ended up just replacing it soon after, as even a pro couldn't get it totally clean.

We soon learned our new home was more style over substance. Nothing was put up properly, the bathroom was cheaply fitted (the freestanding bath wasn't even fixed to the floor or overflow pipe!). I even found a picture frame down the back of a radiator one day, where it must have fallen off the wall. They'd retrieved whatever picture had been in the frame, but just left it there!

And the worst thing was the garden - dog shit everywhere and decking that hadn't been treated in years so was a total slippery nightmare. It also had a rat's nest under it.

We knew we had no recourse against the sellers, but made our feelings known to the estate agents, who brought around a bottle of wine as an apology!

(We spent just over four hundred quid getting the house and garden up to scratch as per the rental agents instructions)

The CF rental agents then took new marketing photos, they were so pleased with the end result ! Did we get any, 'thank you/appreciation cash'. Even though it actually looked a bit better than it did when we moved in ? Nope. Well, save to pass on the thanks of the property owners that for leaving it in such good order. Didn't stop them wanting to deduct money from our deposit for something we weren't responsible for though.

We basically faced them down and won.

Back on topic.

YogaDrone Tue 01-May-18 13:10:14

I like PigletJohn's comment upthread: "I've heard it said that when somebody tries to bully you by sending solicitors letters (which cost them £x each) you can run up their bills by sending numerous letters of reply (one for each point they raise) a week or so apart, expressing puzzlement, asking for clarification, disclaiming responsibility (admit nothing) and their bill will go up with every letter."

I am going to write this down in one of my special notebooks in case it comes in handy in the future.

When we moved into our present house. The owner moving out had left a washing machine plumbed in - we had one already and had said to remove it, a wardrobe, loads of coat hangers, and the main light in the hall broken! I talked to our solicitor about it, and whether there was any point complaining, and he said not to bother, that it wasn't worth it, and would just cost us money (with no likely outcome).
Pay no attention to these CFs trying it on. I'm surprised your solicitor didn't say that to you.

I work in the world of property and while it is understandable you are upset you have done nothing wrong. Under no circumstances offer anything. People try it on all the time.

I would respond to their solicitor my self and enclose copies of the photos you have proving you left the house clean. Tell them if they wish to take you to court then you will be happy to show a judge the photos.

Sold as seen. Dirt and cosmetic wear and tear is to be expected. Unless you had agreed that the house would be professionally cleaned and repainted as part of the contract then they have no grounds at all.

People often think that because they receive a letter or an e-mail that they have to respond, you don't. Ignore them from this point on.

Trying it on. Ignore it. If they wanted a perfect house they would have had a long search - even new builds are notoriously full of snagging items. They do not have the proverbial leg to stand on.

The house we moved into WAS an absolute pigsty, absolutely disgusting condition it was left in. They'd lived there with a six month old baby!

Anyway, so much of me wanted to complain but there is absolutely no point, you don't gain anything, so they are mugs to pay a solicitor to write a letter to your solicitor as it's diddly squat. And I love the idea above about replying one point at a time just to incur them some extra fees! You can do that yourself, without a solicitor, might be a bit of fun!

Buy as seen! We just didn't look under/behind the furniture to see the utter level of scuzz we were going to have to deal with!

Insult to injury, they left a "welcome to your new home, hope you are as happy as we were here". God, not worried about happy you were but how FILTHY you were!

Well done for taking photos OP