416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
Hello I am hoping you might be able to provide some advice. We purchased our first house a year ago & began renovating the garden. We quickly realised that there was a considerable amount of water rising up from the corner of a patio & flooding around a ⅓ of the garden. This flooding is frequent during the summer months & constant for the rest of the year. Fortunately the house is on a raised platform & the water flows away from the house. I have had this investigated by the local water company who have advised that the rising water is natural ground water. When asking if this has been historically investigated I was advised that no previous owners of my house has ever had investigations. However they were able to confirm that neighbours had had investigations with the water company concluding that ground water was running down the hill from higher level gardens (my garden). On the TA6 the sellers ticked no for Q7.1 that no part of the property had flooded but added a caveat that “there has not been any flooding but occasional water retention on surface of lower rear garden – verified by [water company] as being rain water”. They went on to tick “no” to all points on Q7.2 what types of flooding occured adding occasional in brackets next to surface water. Do you believe there are grounds for misrepresentation here as we feel the sellers have failed to disclose the extent of the water problem (and certainly played it down considerably), have falsely claimed that the local water company investigated the problem & claimed the water to be surface rainwater rather than groundwater. Any advice would be hugely appreciated
Thank you for your comment and we are sorry to hear of the difficulty you are having.
We do need to point out that we can only set out general guidance, ideas and basic principles. This should not be relied upon as an alternative to obtaining bespoke legal advice after the matter has been considered in detail.
Case law broadly sets out that the Property Information Form (TA6) is designed for laypeople to answer and understand. With this in mind, the question of whether or not “water retention” amounts to “flooding”, to the extent that it can be considered a “half-truth” capable of forming a claim for misrepresentation, is open to debate. We are not aware of a specific case which assists in this interpretation.
We are hesitant to suggest that there is definitely a claim here, as the issue was brought to your attention. However, if the extent of the problem is that there is permanent surface water when the answer given to you was that this was “occasional”, then this might form the basis of a claim.
Please do feel free to get in touch if you would like to explore the issue in more detail.
Hi I have exchanged contracts on a new build house. I received actual measurements from the sales office for the front garden and rear garden. Because if COVID-19 it’s been so difficult to have access. So I turned up at the site/house to my horror my front garden is half the size of the measurements provided. I called sales director immediately and expressed my shock. He called me back and said the rear garden measurements are correct as per my email. I’m not that clued up on these thing so I gone back to original solicitors drawings 1:5000 scales and have now calculated the back garden is also about 6ft shorter! What can I do? I have it in writing from them the measurements
Your solicitors should advise you on your position.
In short, it will be necessary to consider the contract. If you have exchanged, you are bound to complete the transaction. However, if the contract does not represent that which you intended to purchase, then you may have grounds to rescind the contract and recover your deposit. You might find that it is possible to renegotiate the purchase price.
Most developers will include a contractual term allowing minor variations to the property, provided that they do not have a material impact on the value of the property. For example, if the garden is already large, then the loss of 6ft might not have any material impact on its value. If the garden is already small, then clearly this loss is likely to have a greater impact on the value.
A review of the contractual terms is the starting point and your solicitor should advise you on these terms.
My recently purchased property has a leak somewhere in the central heating system causing a gradual loss of pressure. The leak could be in the boiler or it could be in the radiator pipework. On the property information form, the seller ticked ‘yes’ to the question ‘is the heating system in good working order?’ Do I have the basis for a claim for misrepresentation due to the heating system having a leak?
There may be a claim here but without considering the situation in more detail, it is difficult to say. The system may genuinely have been in good working order but developed a fault after completion.
If the standard Law Society Property Information Form was used, the section in relation to the central heating system is more extensive than just the question of whether or not the system is in good working order or not. There are parts relating to the age and maintenance of the system. For example, if it was explained that a brand new, recently serviced system was in good working order, then a leak would not be expected. If on the other hand the system is antiquated and has not been serviced for some time, then a leak following completion would not necessarily come as a surprise. What is answered here may very well be relevant to the situation.
A leak and loss of pressure of course is extremely annoying, particularly if you were led to believe that the heating system was in good working order. You have not explained the extent of the leak or whether or not this has caused any damage. No solicitor should advise a client to embark on a course of action without considering whether or not it is financially worthwhile for the client. If this is a minor issue which is capable of being fixed at a low cost, then it is always sensible to consider whether the financial and emotional cost of a claim is worthwhile. If on the other hand this leak has caused substantial damage and inconvenience, then committing to a claim may be more worthwhile.
If there has been some damage, we would certainly recommend discussing this with your buildings insurer.
Hi I recently purchased a property on a retirement complex and the seller ticked that there had been no complaints or disputes at the property since moving in I have found out that the owner put in complaints to the management company about health and safety issues on the site during Covid 19.
Whilst this may amount to a misrepresentation, insofar as something was said which appears factually untrue, an important question to consider is what your loss is. If you have not suffered a financial loss then pursuing a claim is unlikely to be possible. As proving the damage caused is a constituent part of any claim, be that a claim for misrepresentation, professional negligence, breach of contract or otherwise, without any damage having occurred, then it is unlikely that a claim exists.
In misrepresentation cases involving property, normally the measure of damages is the difference in value of what was paid for a property and what it was worth, had the true facts been known. This is called diminution in value. Whilst we are not qualified to advise on what that figure is, only a surveyor or perhaps estate agent would be able to do this, we are hesitant to suggest that what you describe would have a material impact on the value of the property. However, we may of course be incorrect but would require input from an expert on this point.
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Hello I am hoping you might be able to provide some advice. We purchased our first house a year ago & began renovating the garden. We quickly realised that there was a considerable amount of water rising up from the corner of a patio & flooding around a ⅓ of the garden. This flooding is frequent during the summer months & constant for the rest of the year. Fortunately the house is on a raised platform & the water flows away from the house.
I have had this investigated by the local water company who have advised that the rising water is natural ground water. When asking if this has been historically investigated I was advised that no previous owners of my house has ever had investigations. However they were able to confirm that neighbours had had investigations with the water company concluding that ground water was running down the hill from higher level gardens (my garden).
On the TA6 the sellers ticked no for Q7.1 that no part of the property had flooded but added a caveat that “there has not been any flooding but occasional water retention on surface of lower rear garden – verified by [water company] as being rain water”. They went on to tick “no” to all points on Q7.2 what types of flooding occured adding occasional in brackets next to surface water.
Do you believe there are grounds for misrepresentation here as we feel the sellers have failed to disclose the extent of the water problem (and certainly played it down considerably), have falsely claimed that the local water company investigated the problem & claimed the water to be surface rainwater rather than groundwater. Any advice would be hugely appreciated
Thank you for your comment and we are sorry to hear of the difficulty you are having.
We do need to point out that we can only set out general guidance, ideas and basic principles. This should not be relied upon as an alternative to obtaining bespoke legal advice after the matter has been considered in detail.
Case law broadly sets out that the Property Information Form (TA6) is designed for laypeople to answer and understand. With this in mind, the question of whether or not “water retention” amounts to “flooding”, to the extent that it can be considered a “half-truth” capable of forming a claim for misrepresentation, is open to debate. We are not aware of a specific case which assists in this interpretation.
We are hesitant to suggest that there is definitely a claim here, as the issue was brought to your attention. However, if the extent of the problem is that there is permanent surface water when the answer given to you was that this was “occasional”, then this might form the basis of a claim.
Please do feel free to get in touch if you would like to explore the issue in more detail.
Thanks Mark. Much appreciated.
Hi I have exchanged contracts on a new build house. I received actual measurements from the sales office for the front garden and rear garden. Because if COVID-19 it’s been so difficult to have access. So I turned up at the site/house to my horror my front garden is half the size of the measurements provided. I called sales director immediately and expressed my shock. He called me back and said the rear garden measurements are correct as per my email. I’m not that clued up on these thing so I gone back to original solicitors drawings 1:5000 scales and have now calculated the back garden is also about 6ft shorter! What can I do? I have it in writing from them the measurements
Thank you for your comment.
Your solicitors should advise you on your position.
In short, it will be necessary to consider the contract. If you have exchanged, you are bound to complete the transaction. However, if the contract does not represent that which you intended to purchase, then you may have grounds to rescind the contract and recover your deposit. You might find that it is possible to renegotiate the purchase price.
Most developers will include a contractual term allowing minor variations to the property, provided that they do not have a material impact on the value of the property. For example, if the garden is already large, then the loss of 6ft might not have any material impact on its value. If the garden is already small, then clearly this loss is likely to have a greater impact on the value.
A review of the contractual terms is the starting point and your solicitor should advise you on these terms.
My recently purchased property has a leak somewhere in the central heating system causing a gradual loss of pressure. The leak could be in the boiler or it could be in the radiator pipework.
On the property information form, the seller ticked ‘yes’ to the question ‘is the heating system in good working order?’
Do I have the basis for a claim for misrepresentation due to the heating system having a leak?
Thank you for your comment, Steve.
There may be a claim here but without considering the situation in more detail, it is difficult to say. The system may genuinely have been in good working order but developed a fault after completion.
If the standard Law Society Property Information Form was used, the section in relation to the central heating system is more extensive than just the question of whether or not the system is in good working order or not. There are parts relating to the age and maintenance of the system. For example, if it was explained that a brand new, recently serviced system was in good working order, then a leak would not be expected. If on the other hand the system is antiquated and has not been serviced for some time, then a leak following completion would not necessarily come as a surprise. What is answered here may very well be relevant to the situation.
A leak and loss of pressure of course is extremely annoying, particularly if you were led to believe that the heating system was in good working order. You have not explained the extent of the leak or whether or not this has caused any damage. No solicitor should advise a client to embark on a course of action without considering whether or not it is financially worthwhile for the client. If this is a minor issue which is capable of being fixed at a low cost, then it is always sensible to consider whether the financial and emotional cost of a claim is worthwhile. If on the other hand this leak has caused substantial damage and inconvenience, then committing to a claim may be more worthwhile.
If there has been some damage, we would certainly recommend discussing this with your buildings insurer.
Hi I recently purchased a property on a retirement complex and the seller ticked that there had been no complaints or disputes at the property since moving in I have found out that the owner put in complaints to the management company about health and safety issues on the site during Covid 19.
Can I claim damages.
Jo
Thank you for your comment Jo.
Whilst this may amount to a misrepresentation, insofar as something was said which appears factually untrue, an important question to consider is what your loss is. If you have not suffered a financial loss then pursuing a claim is unlikely to be possible. As proving the damage caused is a constituent part of any claim, be that a claim for misrepresentation, professional negligence, breach of contract or otherwise, without any damage having occurred, then it is unlikely that a claim exists.
In misrepresentation cases involving property, normally the measure of damages is the difference in value of what was paid for a property and what it was worth, had the true facts been known. This is called diminution in value. Whilst we are not qualified to advise on what that figure is, only a surveyor or perhaps estate agent would be able to do this, we are hesitant to suggest that what you describe would have a material impact on the value of the property. However, we may of course be incorrect but would require input from an expert on this point.