290 thoughts on “Dealing with property auction issues”
Hi, baffled as have successfully bid on a property all proceeded well, full payment and signed contract all sent by me to my solicitor who are waiting for the seller to sign. Their solicitor has reset the completion deadline once already as tgey missed the original deadline to dign. The seller has still not returned their signed completion paperwork over a month after the 28 day deadline for completion. Where do I stand as the buyer? Am I able to withdraw from the purchase?
Thank you for your comment. You should discuss your next steps with your own solicitor as much will depend on the contractual terms you agreed. However, it would be unusual for any contract of sale not to require the service of a notice to complete on the defaulting party before the other party could rescind (withdraw) from the contract. If the notice to complete is not complied with, then the basic position is that the other party can withdraw from the transaction but not before.
Hi Please advice, is the seller required to provide AP1 or proof of ownership of the property because at present as a name on the land registry which is not that of the vendor.
Extra special conditions 1. The seller is selling as the contractual purchaser of the Property. The buyer acknowledges that the seller is only the contractual purchaser and shall not be entitled to raise any requisition arising from the seller not being the registered proprietor of the Property and the buyer shall not be entitled to refuse to complete for this reason. 2. The seller shall, in addition to the Transfer Deed provide to the buyer: a) The Transfer Deed from the registered proprietor to the seller b) SDLT5 Certificate in respect of the Transfer to the seller c) Form AP1 in respect of the transfer to the seller 3. On Completion, the Buyer shall pay the sum of £365.00 in respect of the searches provided in the legal pack. 4. If the buyer shall refuse to complete until the seller is the registered proprietor of the Property the buyer shall on the contractual completion date pay to the seller the balance of the purchase price to be held by the seller’s solicitors until completion and on completion the buyer shall pay to the seller in addition to the purchase price the stamp duty land tax payable by the seller in respect of the Transfer to the seller as a result of the buyer’s refusal to complete on the completion date 5. Any Notice to Complete served by the seller shall only be required to give five working days’ notice. 6. The specified time for completion is 12.00 noon and if funds are received after that time, completion is to be treated as taking place on the next working day. In addition, the seller shall be forthwith entitled to serve a Notice to Complete. 7. In the event of Notice to Complete being served the Buyer shall as a condition of Completion pay the Sellers’ solicitor’s costs of £475.00 plus VAT in connection with the preparation and service of the Notice to Complete. 8. In addition to the purchase price, the Buyer shall pay to the Seller two per cent plus value added tax of the purchase price as a contribution towards the legal and agent’s costs incurred by the Seller in connection with the sale of the Property
Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately we can only give general guidance on our website, which should not be considered a substitution for bespoke legal advice. We are therefore unable to respond specifically.
We are aware that there are sellers who “flip” properties at auction, this is buying and then immediately selling at a higher price. Effectively, they are never the registered proprietors but they would normally have to be the legal owner. Unless someone has permission from the owner of specific property to sell it on their behalf (in which case they would be an agent of the seller) it is not possible to sell something that does not belong to them.
I won an auction bid at £30K on a dilapidated garage that was advertised as land and building at the online auction with the LOT picture showing a building size of a bungalow covered in a bush behind it. It was stated that buyers could only view property from the road as there was no access to the back of the building . The same property was previously advertised as a bungalow by a local Agent, so I did not bother going around for any viewings before the auction. It looked like my dream project on pictures trusting that it was land and building as advertised. Little did I know that it was just a garage attached to a neighbour’s shed with no land to it. I was not happy, so I hesitated on completing the purchase , however I realized that I had no right besides, I did not want to lose my deposit therefore I went on and completed. I immediately filed a complaint to the auctioneers, and they changed the online auction from “LAND and BUILDING” to “BUILDING” within a few minutes later. I waited for around 3 weeks or so to get a decision from them and they still insisted it was the right representation though they offered to pay me £250 as a good will gesture which I never bothered claiming. I am currently waiting for a planning permission decision to have my garage turned into a small holiday let mezzanine . Nevertheless, I am still hoping to take further action against the auctioneers for misrepresentation, please advise. Thanks for your advice in advance and in the meantime, please stay safe!
Thank you for your comment. Misrepresentations can occur at auction and this may be an example of this. If the property is described in a specific way and this transpires to be incorrect, then it may very well be that there has been a misrepresentation if the description was relied on when entering into the contract. It is also not normally a defence to suggest that the aggrieved party could have found out the “truth”, for example, by inspecting the property.
An issue that you may find is that you may be considered to have affirmed the contract and effectively waived a claim for misrepresentation by completing, rather than seeking to rescind the contract. This is a point we would need to consider with you.
If you would like to look into the matter in more detail, please do feel free to get in touch.
Delayed completion: what are your options when someone in your chain of property transactions is late? With a group of strangers all working toward completing on the same date, it's a wonder it ever works out on time.
This collection of cases of property misrepresentation claims should remind all of us how important it is to tell the truth on a Property Information Form
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Hi, baffled as have successfully bid on a property all proceeded well, full payment and signed contract all sent by me to my solicitor who are waiting for the seller to sign. Their solicitor has reset the completion deadline once already as tgey missed the original deadline to dign. The seller has still not returned their signed completion paperwork over a month after the 28 day deadline for completion. Where do I stand as the buyer? Am I able to withdraw from the purchase?
Thank you for your comment. You should discuss your next steps with your own solicitor as much will depend on the contractual terms you agreed. However, it would be unusual for any contract of sale not to require the service of a notice to complete on the defaulting party before the other party could rescind (withdraw) from the contract. If the notice to complete is not complied with, then the basic position is that the other party can withdraw from the transaction but not before.
Hi Please advice, is the seller required to provide AP1 or proof of ownership of the property because at present as a name on the land registry which is not that of the vendor.
Extra special conditions
1. The seller is selling as the contractual purchaser of the Property. The buyer
acknowledges that the seller is only the contractual purchaser and shall not be
entitled to raise any requisition arising from the seller not being the registered
proprietor of the Property and the buyer shall not be entitled to refuse to complete
for this reason.
2. The seller shall, in addition to the Transfer Deed provide to the buyer:
a) The Transfer Deed from the registered proprietor to the seller
b) SDLT5 Certificate in respect of the Transfer to the seller
c) Form AP1 in respect of the transfer to the seller
3. On Completion, the Buyer shall pay the sum of £365.00 in respect of the searches
provided in the legal pack.
4. If the buyer shall refuse to complete until the seller is the registered proprietor of the
Property the buyer shall on the contractual completion date pay to the seller the
balance of the purchase price to be held by the seller’s solicitors until completion and
on completion the buyer shall pay to the seller in addition to the purchase price the
stamp duty land tax payable by the seller in respect of the Transfer to the seller as a
result of the buyer’s refusal to complete on the completion date
5. Any Notice to Complete served by the seller shall only be required to give five working
days’ notice.
6. The specified time for completion is 12.00 noon and if funds are received after that
time, completion is to be treated as taking place on the next working day. In
addition, the seller shall be forthwith entitled to serve a Notice to Complete.
7. In the event of Notice to Complete being served the Buyer shall as a condition of
Completion pay the Sellers’ solicitor’s costs of £475.00 plus VAT in connection with
the preparation and service of the Notice to Complete.
8. In addition to the purchase price, the Buyer shall pay to the Seller two per cent plus
value added tax of the purchase price as a contribution towards the legal and agent’s
costs incurred by the Seller in connection with the sale of the Property
Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately we can only give general guidance on our website, which should not be considered a substitution for bespoke legal advice. We are therefore unable to respond specifically.
We are aware that there are sellers who “flip” properties at auction, this is buying and then immediately selling at a higher price. Effectively, they are never the registered proprietors but they would normally have to be the legal owner. Unless someone has permission from the owner of specific property to sell it on their behalf (in which case they would be an agent of the seller) it is not possible to sell something that does not belong to them.
Hi there,
I won an auction bid at £30K on a dilapidated garage that was advertised as land and building at the online auction with the LOT picture showing a building size of a bungalow covered in a bush behind it. It was stated that buyers could only view property from the road as there was no access to the back of the building . The same property was previously advertised as a bungalow by a local Agent, so I did not bother going around for any viewings before the auction. It looked like my dream project on pictures trusting that it was land and building as advertised.
Little did I know that it was just a garage attached to a neighbour’s shed with no land to it. I was not happy, so I hesitated on completing the purchase , however I realized that I had no right besides, I did not want to lose my deposit therefore I went on and completed. I immediately filed a complaint to the auctioneers, and they changed the online auction from “LAND and BUILDING” to “BUILDING” within a few minutes later. I waited for around 3 weeks or so to get a decision from them and they still insisted it was the right representation though they offered to pay me £250 as a good will gesture which I never bothered claiming.
I am currently waiting for a planning permission decision to have my garage turned into a small holiday let mezzanine .
Nevertheless, I am still hoping to take further action against the auctioneers for misrepresentation, please advise.
Thanks for your advice in advance and in the meantime, please stay safe!
Thank you for your comment. Misrepresentations can occur at auction and this may be an example of this. If the property is described in a specific way and this transpires to be incorrect, then it may very well be that there has been a misrepresentation if the description was relied on when entering into the contract. It is also not normally a defence to suggest that the aggrieved party could have found out the “truth”, for example, by inspecting the property.
An issue that you may find is that you may be considered to have affirmed the contract and effectively waived a claim for misrepresentation by completing, rather than seeking to rescind the contract. This is a point we would need to consider with you.
If you would like to look into the matter in more detail, please do feel free to get in touch.