416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
Hi – I have just recently completed (January) on my purchase only to find out the sellers of my property have not disclosed the following two facts on the seller information form:-
1 – They had a long running dispute with my neighbour due to him failing to control vermin in his property resulting in vermin in my property (I have had 2 other neighbours confirm that they were in dispute and had disclosed this to the relevant local authority departments during their 5 year ownership of my property on many an occasion).
2 – They had constructed a rear extension without suitable building regulation approval and again omitted to disclose this also (again a neighbour has confirmed this was constructed within their tenure) stating on the seller information form that they had made no structural alterations to the property at anytime.
Any help would be gratefully received as I’m finding the whole situation very stressful indeed.
I would like to know my chances of pursuing a mis-representation claim.
A long running dispute, or indeed any dispute with neighbours, should generally need to be disclosed in the property information form, so there may be a case for misrepresentation here.
As for the extension, failing to explain that there was building regulation compliance may not amount to misrepresentation. If they suggested in some way (and normally in writing) that the extension did comply with regulations, then this could be a misrepresentation. The existence of an extension would also ordinarily trigger your solicitor to ask for details of the same. If this did not happen, there may be a claim here for professional negligence. We would need to consider the terms of their retainer and what, for example, was disclosed during the transaction, including what was written in any survey undertaken.
However, it appears here that your sellers suggested that they did not undertake any alterations during their period of ownership but you believe this to be untrue. You will need to obtain evidence of this. A starting point for this could be planning applications, which are publicly available. However, if the extension is within “permitted development”, no application may have been required, so you might be relying on the evidence of neighbours alone.
If you would like us to look into the position for you in more detail, please do feel free to get in touch.
Thank you Mark for your prompt and detailed reply. We have been in touch with our insurers and we were informed that since this was an existing issue they would not be able to help us. I do not know if that protocol is correct?? . Also we are finding out that the previous owner had lied on many other numerous things. We ended up right in middle of it all.
Following our move into the property we purchased endof February we have uncovered major issues with the house. Some of the paperwork we found in the house that the owner left behind revealed that the roots of the trees adjacent the house are causing the house to subside. The owner had written a letter to the owner of the land next door, which I have a copy of, asking him to apply for the the trees to be taken of the Tree Protection Order so they could be fell so to stop the subsidance. The trees are still there. The owner had covered up cracks in the building by placing wooden boards over them. In the garage he used other materials to hide the cracks. In the property information form he never mentioned that he had a dispute with owner of land next door and he covered up the cracks to hide the major damages. The owner has acted in a fraudulent and dishonest way and went against the legal protocols when selling a property. This is a very sad situation as we had purchased this property so to look after our elderly parents and now all is in jeopardy. What can be done legally from our part?
Thank you for your comment Ben. This must be very distressing.
Subsidence can be a serious issue and the first thing you need to do is get hold of your buildings insurer if you haven’t already. They will normally appoint a structural engineer to monitor any movement in the property and decide what can be done. You may also have legal cover. You do not always have to appoint your insurer’s panel solicitors, if a claim exists.
Sometimes the effects of subsidence (and heave) can be historical and there is no further risk of movement as a result of this. If further cracks appear, then this can sometimes be as a result of weather conditions. Houses do also tend to expand and contract in periods of warm and cold weather which can lead to superficial cracks appearing. Sometimes settlement cracks appear in property, depending on its age. Obviously we cannot give you advice in this respect; this is the remit of a suitably qualified structural engineer. Our comments are based on historical cases we have acted on because the cause of the cracking is important to establish.
If the cracking is as a result of subsidence as a result of desiccation (when the roots draw moisture from soil, causing it to contract), then an arboriculturalist might need to be appointed, to confirm which trees are causing the problems and advise on the best way to deal with the situation. Sometimes, removing the trees completely can do more harm than good, as any roots would quickly rot and this can cause problems. Sometimes lopping the trees over a period of time is more effective and this can gradually reduce the roots. A lot would depend on the species of tree and how pervasive the root structure is. Sometimes concrete root barriers or underpinning is recommended. Again, this is all something for an expert to advise on.
From a legal point of view, there might be a claim against your neighbour for nuisance and trespass, if the tree roots are encroaching onto your land and causing the damage. This is why experts are required, to prove that there is an encroachment, that it is this causing the damage and the extent of the damage and potential financial loss.
You may also have a claim for misrepresentation against your seller, if there has been a deliberate concealment of issues. Normally there would have to be some sort of untrue statement of fact. The risk here would be that merely stating that there were no “disputes” with the neighbour might in fact be true or a statement of opinion, depending on how someone defines the word “dispute”. There is no legal definition of this and the Courts will generally apply a test based on what a reasonable layperson would understand from the question. Certainly the letter you have would indicate that a dispute existed and would likely be a good starting point.
In addition to this, it might also be worthwhile trying to establish if the sellers have ever made any insurance claims or had underpinning undertaken, as the standard seller’s property information form contains questions on this which, if answered falsely, could also bolster a misrepresentation claim.
As for your surveyor, whether or not this is something that they should have spotted is also something to consider. This will depend on the scope of their instructions and the extent of the survey they were instructed to undertake.
Subsidence and heave cases can become technically complex and as a result of this, can be expensive in terms of the legal costs. This is why your insurers should be the first port of call. However, do feel free to get in touch with us if you would like to discuss further.
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Hi – I have just recently completed (January) on my purchase only to find out the sellers of my property have not disclosed the following two facts on the seller information form:-
1 – They had a long running dispute with my neighbour due to him failing to control vermin in his property resulting in vermin in my property (I have had 2 other neighbours confirm that they were in dispute and had disclosed this to the relevant local authority departments during their 5 year ownership of my property on many an occasion).
2 – They had constructed a rear extension without suitable building regulation approval and again omitted to disclose this also (again a neighbour has confirmed this was constructed within their tenure) stating on the seller information form that they had made no structural alterations to the property at anytime.
Any help would be gratefully received as I’m finding the whole situation very stressful indeed.
I would like to know my chances of pursuing a mis-representation claim.
Thank you for your comment John.
A long running dispute, or indeed any dispute with neighbours, should generally need to be disclosed in the property information form, so there may be a case for misrepresentation here.
As for the extension, failing to explain that there was building regulation compliance may not amount to misrepresentation. If they suggested in some way (and normally in writing) that the extension did comply with regulations, then this could be a misrepresentation. The existence of an extension would also ordinarily trigger your solicitor to ask for details of the same. If this did not happen, there may be a claim here for professional negligence. We would need to consider the terms of their retainer and what, for example, was disclosed during the transaction, including what was written in any survey undertaken.
However, it appears here that your sellers suggested that they did not undertake any alterations during their period of ownership but you believe this to be untrue. You will need to obtain evidence of this. A starting point for this could be planning applications, which are publicly available. However, if the extension is within “permitted development”, no application may have been required, so you might be relying on the evidence of neighbours alone.
If you would like us to look into the position for you in more detail, please do feel free to get in touch.
Thank you Mark for your prompt and detailed reply.
We have been in touch with our insurers and we were informed that since this was an existing issue they would not be able to help us. I do not know if that protocol is correct?? . Also we are finding out that the previous owner had lied on many other numerous things. We ended up right in middle of it all.
Best regards
Ben
Thank you for you further comment, Ben. We have responded to you by email in the interests of maintaining confidentiality.
Following our move into the property we purchased endof February we have uncovered major issues with the house. Some of the paperwork we found in the house that the owner left behind revealed that the roots of the trees adjacent the house are causing the house to subside. The owner had written a letter to the owner of the land next door, which I have a copy of, asking him to apply for the the trees to be taken of the Tree Protection Order so they could be fell so to stop the subsidance. The trees are still there. The owner had covered up cracks in the building by placing wooden boards over them. In the garage he used other materials to hide the cracks. In the property information form he never mentioned that he had a dispute with owner of land next door and he covered up the cracks to hide the major damages. The owner has acted in a fraudulent and dishonest way and went against the legal protocols when selling a property.
This is a very sad situation as we had purchased this property so to look after our elderly parents and now all is in jeopardy.
What can be done legally from our part?
Thank you for your comment Ben. This must be very distressing.
Subsidence can be a serious issue and the first thing you need to do is get hold of your buildings insurer if you haven’t already. They will normally appoint a structural engineer to monitor any movement in the property and decide what can be done. You may also have legal cover. You do not always have to appoint your insurer’s panel solicitors, if a claim exists.
Sometimes the effects of subsidence (and heave) can be historical and there is no further risk of movement as a result of this. If further cracks appear, then this can sometimes be as a result of weather conditions. Houses do also tend to expand and contract in periods of warm and cold weather which can lead to superficial cracks appearing. Sometimes settlement cracks appear in property, depending on its age. Obviously we cannot give you advice in this respect; this is the remit of a suitably qualified structural engineer. Our comments are based on historical cases we have acted on because the cause of the cracking is important to establish.
If the cracking is as a result of subsidence as a result of desiccation (when the roots draw moisture from soil, causing it to contract), then an arboriculturalist might need to be appointed, to confirm which trees are causing the problems and advise on the best way to deal with the situation. Sometimes, removing the trees completely can do more harm than good, as any roots would quickly rot and this can cause problems. Sometimes lopping the trees over a period of time is more effective and this can gradually reduce the roots. A lot would depend on the species of tree and how pervasive the root structure is. Sometimes concrete root barriers or underpinning is recommended. Again, this is all something for an expert to advise on.
From a legal point of view, there might be a claim against your neighbour for nuisance and trespass, if the tree roots are encroaching onto your land and causing the damage. This is why experts are required, to prove that there is an encroachment, that it is this causing the damage and the extent of the damage and potential financial loss.
You may also have a claim for misrepresentation against your seller, if there has been a deliberate concealment of issues. Normally there would have to be some sort of untrue statement of fact. The risk here would be that merely stating that there were no “disputes” with the neighbour might in fact be true or a statement of opinion, depending on how someone defines the word “dispute”. There is no legal definition of this and the Courts will generally apply a test based on what a reasonable layperson would understand from the question. Certainly the letter you have would indicate that a dispute existed and would likely be a good starting point.
In addition to this, it might also be worthwhile trying to establish if the sellers have ever made any insurance claims or had underpinning undertaken, as the standard seller’s property information form contains questions on this which, if answered falsely, could also bolster a misrepresentation claim.
As for your surveyor, whether or not this is something that they should have spotted is also something to consider. This will depend on the scope of their instructions and the extent of the survey they were instructed to undertake.
Subsidence and heave cases can become technically complex and as a result of this, can be expensive in terms of the legal costs. This is why your insurers should be the first port of call. However, do feel free to get in touch with us if you would like to discuss further.