buyer wants us to say vacant possession on forms when it isn't??

[Bells3032]

So 8 weeks ago we put my flat on the market. I originally bought this property for myself but six months later met a wonderful man and two years later moved to his property and rented out my flat.

The flat was marketed as a buy to let as wanted to cause the least disruption possible for my tenants (and to myself admittedly) and a week later after a single person viewed I got an offer from someone looking to do rent to rent and happily accepted with them saying expecting to complete in around 8 weeks. I was happy there would be the least disruption possible, completed all forms and provided all info within a few days and for good measure threw in all the furniture and fixtures etc at no extra cost.

We are now 7 weeks on - their mortgage is still ongoing and their lawyer finally picked up the contract pack today after weeks of being chased by my lawyer. Their first enquiry was is it vacant possession. My lawyer said no as it was being sold as tenants in situ and that was agreed from the start.

After a back and forth between us, lawyers and estate agents turns out they're getting a residential not a buy to let mortgage as they have to put less down. This means their mortgage needs vacant possession and want me and my lawyer to lie and say it's vacant possession when it isn't and then just renew the lease on day of completion.

I spoke to my lawyer and said he's not comfortable doing that knowing full well that it's not vacant and if they'd said that from the start we could of found a way round it but at this point he can't in good faith reissue the contracts.

Feel so upset that after 7 weeks it's all gonna fall through. had anyone come across this and was it resolved at all? My estate agent said it's a regular thing and never had any issues but i rely on a good record for my job and would lose my job is caught in any fraud etc.

Feel so angry and upset for both me and my tenants that more uncertainty.

It really really sucks if it falls through but there’s no way I’d lie either.

I definitely wouldn't lie on the forms, even if it meant remarketing the property.

Don't lie whatever you do. The solicitor won't and neither should you. (Ignore the estate agent who'd say anything for the commission).
It's quite unusual to buy with tenants in situ as even BTL mortgage providers don't like it, so be prepared to have it sit unsold a while.
I would never buy with a tenant in situ. Did your solicitor advise you to have them sign to say they had no claim to the property?

@NewHouseNewMe hadn't even got that far, surely that would be for their side and they haven't even started searches or reviewing the pack until today.

If it doesn't sell before the end of the tenancy in feb i'll just have to evict and then sell as vacant possession. it's a shame as they're great tenants but we want to purchase a home and the extra stamp duty and tied up equity just make too much of a difference for us.

@bells3032 actually it would be for you to arrange that as the onus is on you to prove you have full rights to the title. You'd need to prove that you can complete.. That means paying for your tenants to sign an affidavit to that end.
This is why it's rarely done.

ok would have done that. it wouldn't be an issue. but don't think i am comfortable lying on legal documents.

You absolutely should not misrepresent the position for loads of reasons, including your possible liability to the buyer. If it won't sell with tenants in situ you'll have to ask them to leave and remarket. You may be able to terminate their tenancy early.

There is no way you should do this, and no reputable lawyer would agree.

Quite apart from anything else, if you sell it “with vacant possession” but there are actually tenants in place, you would be liable to pay damages to the buyers.

Your lawyer will not do this as it makes you and him party to mortgage fraud.

Emailed my estate agent telling them to pull out of the deal and re-market the property today. I am so upset and angry as these people for wasting my time. if they wanted a residential mortgage there are two other flats in my block for sale they could of had vacant possession on and then tenanted within a couples of weeks. They did not have to make me party to mortgage fraud to do this.

Good call OP. If you had completed with vacant possession then on completion day the purchasers could have came back at you as the property was occupied and not empty. Too risky and the trust is gone.

We were worried about that too. Both on the legal and civil side we were leaving ourselves too open for risk and given both my husband and i are in careers where we need an unblemished record or we lose our jobs it was too hard a pill for us to swallow.

Our agent has messaged to say they have someone else who may be interested before she uploads to rightmove. so fingers crossed.

What cheeky fuckers. I can see why you swerved the mortgage fraud. Good luck with selling the flat

@Bells3032 you did the right thing!

Landlords who have residential mortgages are actually putting themselves at huge risk of invalidating the terms of their agreement. I don't know why people think this is acceptable - it's fraud.

I hope you get a new buyer very soon and that your onwards purchase isn't put at risk. I'm still looking as nothing good is coming up at my price range.

@NewHouseNewMe thank you. Thankfully we found somewhere at the lower end of our price range and had a smaller mortgage than we expected. We were sitting in my in laws garden (socially distanced of course) when this all happened and we considered reapplying for a bigger mortgage but they've offered to loan us some funds to cover the stamp duty including the additional stamp duty due to owning two properties at once until the flat is sold which has taken a huge burden off our shoulders and means we can proceed with the sale. Moneys gonna be tight til it's sold but thankfully we won't lose the house over it.

Good luck with your purchasing!!