Agency lied about completion date- should we back out?

[Chowmeinhotdog]

We were set to exchange today on a property we really like. We were told by the agent that the seller wanted to complete within the week. We left in notice in our rental property.

Then we found out via our solicitor that the seller wants three months before exchange despite being chain free. This is after being told by the agent that the seller was packed and ready to go on Friday. They actually agreed to knock 1500 extra off the price if we exchanged within the week, so seemed to want to move very quickly. The agent also told our solicitor and the vendors solicitor that we had consented to completion in October. Basically the agent has been going around telling a load of lies to get us to exchange early. Also no explanation about why the seller wants to sit in the house for three months.

So now the trust is completely broken. We've gone through the whole process (twice actually, because we had to reapply for the mortgage after my partner lost his job).

We've halted the exchange. I've been looking at properties in this area for nearly a year now and this is the only one that's ticked our boxes. We've really like it. We'll also lose loads of fees including what we paid for a full structural survey if we walk away. The deceit seems to come from the agency and not the seller.

At the same time, this has been a massive insult to our trust and we don't think it's safe to exchange three months before completion. We're thinking of recommencing our viewing of other properties. Someone also said we should report the agency to the ombudsman (for some reason they felt comfortable leaving a pretty direct paper trail contradicting themselves).

Anyone experienced anything like this/ have any insight? I'm so angry I can't even think about this.

I would be going direct to the vendors and tell them the lies you have been told!

There isn't really an Estate Agents ombudsman as such. What has the Agent said when you confronted them about this? What is your solicitor doing to assist you?

Haven't confronted agent yet. Solicitors are trying to see if they can get an earlier completion date. We're generally in the dark here.

too late but as nothing is guaranteed until exchange, it was not a good move to give notice until you had it.

it is perfectly safe to exchange three months before completion, once you have exchange all are committed. Your post confuses exchange and completion.

there is no-one to complain to, sorry. Hope it works out. Meantime get on to your landlord quick!

I don't really see a problem here, if you discount what the agent said, which must be infuriating. If you exchange, with a completion date in 3 months, the vendors are committed to completing on that date. Breach of contract for failing to do so would be very expensive for them, so it is highly unlikely they would breach the contract. Your landlord should accept a later vacation date for your property. They don't really have a choice because to issue a s21 notice and then get a possession order would be costly and take probably around 3 to 4 months the way the courts are stacked up at the moment. Plus it's August next month and the courts have a tendency to almost grind to a halt due to staff holidays etc. So even if they aren't happy with you staying on another 3 months, there isn't really a lot they can do.

Don't throw away a good house because the vendors are being stupid!

And there is a property Ombudsman to whom you can complain once you have exhausted the complaints procedure at the agents, providing they are members subscribing to the Ombudsman service. You should be able to find this out on the property ombudsman website. I wish people wouldn't post wrong information on here . . .!

Solicitors say it's risky as more chance of something going wrong eg damage to property/death of seller in interim. Does my post confuse exchange and completion?

This is helpful, thank you. Apparently we would need to get insurance to cover the period between exchange and completion, which we'll need to pay for and won't cover all possibilities.

I don't think we'll have a problem staying in the current rented property. Just annoying as made bad blood with letting agent over the weekend as they tried to lie about tenancy law and the contents of our contract to force us to stay until September. Now we've gotten past that and we have to come crawling back

Apparently we would need to get insurance to cover the period between exchange and completion,

You would need that in any case, however short or long the period between exchange and completion.

The insurance will cover the normal issues owning a property might bring, such as fire, flood etc. I was buying some property and the tenant farmer died, as it was farmland it caused a bit of a hitch because a second trustee had to be appointed, it was a bit complicated. It caused a delay of around 3 months, which was inconvenient but not insurmountable. These things happen. I wouldn't worry about 3 months between exchange and completion. It also gives you a set date for moving and time to pack and declutter and all that stuff. Good luck in your new home.

if your agent is lying I wouldn't worry about 'bad blood' read your how to rent and as noted above, you hold all the cards anyway.

you have to insure from exchange as if it burns down ( hope not!) you still have to buy.

@Jonbb my mistake. I see it became compulsory for estate agents to belong to an ombudsman scheme since 2007 - before then it was voluntary. Just read an interesting article that the average compensation paid out is £100 to £200!!

Hi all, just a follow up to this. We explained to the solicitors and agent that we wanted a shorter period between exchange and completion and we're not happy that we still had to explanation why the vendor suddenly needed a three month interim period between the two. We received a slightly emotional phone call from the agent where he told us we were out of line, and we didn't exchange today that the vendor was withdrawing from sale. Obviously alarm bells are going off all over the place now so we're just letting the vendor withdraw. Have also been informed by our solicitors that the vendors solicitors are only receiving communication from the vendor via the estate agent?! Apparently the vendors solicitors are having trouble getting through to the vendor and are mainly communicating with the vendor via the agent!

This is bad for my blood pressure. I've booked a viewing on another nearby property for this Saturday. It's less attractive but cheaper and hopefully involved in a less ridiculous situation.

All sounds a bit odd. I wouldn't think the vendors' solicitor would be too happy with the sale proceeding, if unable to get instructions from them.

I would have hoped not! Can't understand why the agent now seems to be the only representative we have for the vendor. Definitely all a bit weird.