288 thoughts on “Dealing with property auction issues”
Hi I purchased a property at an auction and in the completion statement, there was a rent arrears of about £5000 and service charges areas of about £3000. My solicitors did their searches and discovered that the £3000 was a lie and brought that to the attention of the sellers solicitors and they apologised and removed it. After completion we discovered as well that the £5000 rent arrears is a lie as well as the tenant has been in the property for more than 10 years and has never defaulted on his rent payments. We have contacted the sellers solicitor about this and no reply. Can I sue them to get my money back?
Firstly, well done for instructing solicitors prior to bidding. We receive so many enquiries where people have bid on properties who then find themselves in difficulties which may have been avoided if a solicitor had been instructed. It sounds as though your solicitor earned their fees.
This is rather an unusual query. Most of the time, a buyer might be put off by the idea of purchasing a property with a tenant in situ that does not pay the rent. Having said this, as the new landlord would acquire the right to pursue the arrears, we can see how this might factor into any decision making process. We suspect that you were relying on recovering the rent arrears in order to pay the service charge arrears.
In short, if you were led to believe by the seller that a certain set of facts existed, and you relied on that representation when entering into the contract (i.e. placing the winning bid), then there would be a basis of claim against the seller if that fact as represented was inaccurate and you have suffered a loss as a result. It is hard to see where there is a loss of there were no service charge arrears, but perhaps we have misunderstood the position.
Hi, I have sold my property at auction giving details of flooding on the TA6. The buyer has subsequently sold the property on (via normal selling, not auction) 18 months later and has not included the flooding details in her TA6. The new buyers have since been flooded and are asking for me to provide back copies of paperwork to aid them with a legal claim as they are unable to communicate with their seller of the property, who is refusing to speak to them. Is this something I need to get involved in as this is part of the reason we sold at Auction for a quick sale and no come back?
In the most blunt of terms, this is not really your problem. It strikes us that you were quite right to point out the issues with the property and if the buyer decided not to do this and risk a potential claim, this is their problem.
You are not under an obligation to provide information to the new owner of the property but there is a large caveat to this. A potential Claimant in any claim is legally entitled to make an application for disclosure against a third party, if that third party has evidence that would assist in the cost effective disposal of the claim. Further, if the matter did proceed through the courts, either party can summons a witness to give evidence.
Generally, as it is clearly not the third party’s fault, the cost of complying with an order for disclosure would have to be met by the applicant. Likewise, when it comes to witnesses, those witnesses are generally entitled to their reasonable expenses.
We cannot really say what is best for you to do without understanding the matter in much more detail, but on the basis that there is “no skin off your nose” in supplying documentation, and on the assumption that you are not at risk of any claim (which is probably the case), it might be best to supply some documentation, rather than have to deal with the aggravation of responding to any applications or threats from the new owner’s solicitors. Sometimes the costs of a disclosure application can be ordered against a respondent third party that has behaved unreasonably. Whilst the risk is probably low, it again is probably not a risk that’s worth taking if you are not at any risk yourself.
I bought a House (Freehold) at Auction. When I looked at the House and the Photos of the house it had a pathway around the side of house and a gate into the back garden. Subsequently the next door neighbour complained that his Plans (Land Registry) showed his land went right up to the side of the house, and thus there could be no pathway to the Gate into my back garden as it would involved trespassing to reach the gate. So the gate is there but I cannot use it. How on earth the pathway was made/laid (as it is tiled) before I won the house at auction is beyond me. Should this have been told to me by auction seller ? Should my solicitor/suveypr have pointed out that the Plans of my house and the neighbours both show the land the path runs over to gate is not mine but the neighbours ?. Thanks
The basic position is that a seller does not have to provide the buyer with any information if they do not want to.
However, there is some limited case law which suggests that title defects, of which an issue of the type you describe may very well be, does need to specifically be brought to the buyer’s attention. Even clever contractual drafting is now unlikely to avoid such a requirement.
If you would like to explore the matter in more detail, do feel free to get in touch.
A property has been won at auction. The property is to be purchased with a bridge. The seller won’t provide a UN4. This is a reprocessed property and the lender solicitor is waiting on this. What position would this leave a buyer in?
We are unsure if your reference to a “bridge” is reference to a bridging loan. On the assumption that it is, the seller would not be overly concerned with respect to your own financial arrangements.
As for a UN4, this is a Land Registry form used to cancel a unilateral notice. A “notice” puts a person that intends to have dealings with the property (such as a purchaser) of a third party claiming an interest in the property. If that claim has been disposed of, then if evidence is supplied of this, it is sometimes possible to apply to the Land Registry to unilaterally remove the notice.
A notice does not guarantee that the interest protected is valid. The basic position is that if the buyer purchased the property subject to the third party right that the notice is intended to protect, then it would be for the buyer to address the matter.
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Hi
I purchased a property at an auction and in the completion statement, there was a rent arrears of about £5000 and service charges areas of about £3000.
My solicitors did their searches and discovered that the £3000 was a lie and brought that to the attention of the sellers solicitors and they apologised and removed it. After completion we discovered as well that the £5000 rent arrears is a lie as well as the tenant has been in the property for more than 10 years and has never defaulted on his rent payments.
We have contacted the sellers solicitor about this and no reply. Can I sue them to get my money back?
Thank you for your comment.
Firstly, well done for instructing solicitors prior to bidding. We receive so many enquiries where people have bid on properties who then find themselves in difficulties which may have been avoided if a solicitor had been instructed. It sounds as though your solicitor earned their fees.
This is rather an unusual query. Most of the time, a buyer might be put off by the idea of purchasing a property with a tenant in situ that does not pay the rent. Having said this, as the new landlord would acquire the right to pursue the arrears, we can see how this might factor into any decision making process. We suspect that you were relying on recovering the rent arrears in order to pay the service charge arrears.
In short, if you were led to believe by the seller that a certain set of facts existed, and you relied on that representation when entering into the contract (i.e. placing the winning bid), then there would be a basis of claim against the seller if that fact as represented was inaccurate and you have suffered a loss as a result. It is hard to see where there is a loss of there were no service charge arrears, but perhaps we have misunderstood the position.
Hi, I have sold my property at auction giving details of flooding on the TA6. The buyer has subsequently sold the property on (via normal selling, not auction) 18 months later and has not included the flooding details in her TA6. The new buyers have since been flooded and are asking for me to provide back copies of paperwork to aid them with a legal claim as they are unable to communicate with their seller of the property, who is refusing to speak to them.
Is this something I need to get involved in as this is part of the reason we sold at Auction for a quick sale and no come back?
Thank you for your comment.
In the most blunt of terms, this is not really your problem. It strikes us that you were quite right to point out the issues with the property and if the buyer decided not to do this and risk a potential claim, this is their problem.
You are not under an obligation to provide information to the new owner of the property but there is a large caveat to this. A potential Claimant in any claim is legally entitled to make an application for disclosure against a third party, if that third party has evidence that would assist in the cost effective disposal of the claim. Further, if the matter did proceed through the courts, either party can summons a witness to give evidence.
Generally, as it is clearly not the third party’s fault, the cost of complying with an order for disclosure would have to be met by the applicant. Likewise, when it comes to witnesses, those witnesses are generally entitled to their reasonable expenses.
We cannot really say what is best for you to do without understanding the matter in much more detail, but on the basis that there is “no skin off your nose” in supplying documentation, and on the assumption that you are not at risk of any claim (which is probably the case), it might be best to supply some documentation, rather than have to deal with the aggravation of responding to any applications or threats from the new owner’s solicitors. Sometimes the costs of a disclosure application can be ordered against a respondent third party that has behaved unreasonably. Whilst the risk is probably low, it again is probably not a risk that’s worth taking if you are not at any risk yourself.
Hello
I bought a House (Freehold) at Auction. When I looked at the House and the Photos of the house it had a pathway around the side of house and a gate into the back garden. Subsequently the next door neighbour complained that his Plans (Land Registry) showed his land went right up to the side of the house, and thus there could be no pathway to the Gate into my back garden as it would involved trespassing to reach the
gate. So the gate is there but I cannot use it. How on earth the pathway was made/laid (as it is tiled) before I won the house at auction is beyond me. Should this have been told to me by auction seller ? Should my solicitor/suveypr have pointed out that the Plans of my house and the neighbours both show
the land the path runs over to gate is not mine but the neighbours ?. Thanks
Thank you for your comment.
The basic position is that a seller does not have to provide the buyer with any information if they do not want to.
However, there is some limited case law which suggests that title defects, of which an issue of the type you describe may very well be, does need to specifically be brought to the buyer’s attention. Even clever contractual drafting is now unlikely to avoid such a requirement.
If you would like to explore the matter in more detail, do feel free to get in touch.
A property has been won at auction. The property is to be purchased with a bridge. The seller won’t provide a UN4. This is a reprocessed property and the lender solicitor is waiting on this. What position would this leave a buyer in?
Thanks
Thank you for your comment.
We are unsure if your reference to a “bridge” is reference to a bridging loan. On the assumption that it is, the seller would not be overly concerned with respect to your own financial arrangements.
As for a UN4, this is a Land Registry form used to cancel a unilateral notice. A “notice” puts a person that intends to have dealings with the property (such as a purchaser) of a third party claiming an interest in the property. If that claim has been disposed of, then if evidence is supplied of this, it is sometimes possible to apply to the Land Registry to unilaterally remove the notice.
A notice does not guarantee that the interest protected is valid. The basic position is that if the buyer purchased the property subject to the third party right that the notice is intended to protect, then it would be for the buyer to address the matter.