416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
Hi, I completed on a shared ownership flat on 30/jan/2019. At the end of that year I was notified by the housing association that there was an outstanding service charges arrears from 16/17. Immediately contacted by solicitor who shared the enquiries statement showing the statement of account from the housing association without the charge. The housing association explained it as an ‘admin error’. They are now threatening legal action against my non payment. There is no retainer for this issue as it was not disclosed as outstanding charges. Almost two years on and they’re still demanding I pay for this error which I think is their negligence and I’m now being forced to pay for. Please help.
We cannot comment in any detail in relation to the issue between you and the landlord, as much would depend on what the service charges related to. Broadly speaking however, if there is an error on the part of the landlord, the First Tier Property Tribunal would generally absolve the landlord of some degree of liability and allow them to recover their service charges from the existing tenant. The reason for this is that as a matter of public policy, buildings with communal areas and the like do need to be managed and do need to be maintained. If a landlord was always unable to recover their service charges, it would lead to a situation where the landlord may go bust or otherwise not manage the property.
There may be a claim against the seller on the basis of unjust enrichment as during their period of ownership their service charges were accrued. There is a possible misrepresentation issue here, as an innocent misrepresentation, ie one in which the seller genuinely believed to be the case, might still have arisen.
Hi, I bought a house a couple weeks ago and I specially asked if noise such as talking, music, tv could be heard through the walls (from issues when I was in shared houses). The vendors advised that “I can confirm that I cannot hear a tv/radio/talking/music through the walls of the property”. However, having moved in I hear the neighbours children shouting and talking/tv. When I asked the question of the vendor, I referred to it as a “show stopper” question. Is there any potential come back as I would not have bought the house if I had known I would be hearing this all day long as I am very sensitive to noise? The vendors responses were confirmed in writing via the solicitors albeit I appreciate upon hindsight, the answer has been carefully worded to make it subjective.
Thank you for your comment and we are sorry to hear of the situation.
We are hesitant to say that there is a misrepresentation claim here. You are correct to identify that the response given to you was quite subjective. A statement of opinion, (ie that the seller could not hear anything) is not ordinarily actionable. Normally for a misrepresentation to occur it must be a statement of fact.
Much will turn on how the question was asked and how the response was given in the context of the matter as a whole.
We are sorry to say that we cannot really provide any input on this, as insufficient information has been provided. We are unsure of why a bedroom could not be classed as a bedroom, or why the current or proposed use of a room in a property is relevant to the transaction in any way. Sometimes building regulations approval might not have been obtained in respect of a loft conversation intending to be a bedroom, but this doesn’t stop the seller using it as such, it just means that they are in breach of regulations, which is something that should be picked up on searches.
We would hesitantly say that you contracted to purchase a particular property and probably viewed it. Therefore, semantic arguments relating to particular rooms and whether or not one in particular can be classed as a bedroom are probably not overly relevant. It would be for the prospective purchaser to decide whether or not the property was suitable for their needs.
Hi mark thanks for the reply the bedroom is a attic conversion I have had to submit plans for another project on house and building control have told me that the attic cannot be classed as a bedroom when if we sell the house will we be able to class as a bedroom
Whether or not this is a misrepresentation will depend on a number of factors. One of the important points is whether or not it was implicit or reasonable to assume in the response given to you included confirmation that any legal obligations incumbent on the seller to use the property in the way it was described to you had been complied with. We are not certain, based on case law, that this would be an actionable misrepresentation. The reason for this is that the property information form is designed to be answered and understood by a lay person who would not ordinarily have a legal background.
Whether or not there is any basis for a professional negligence claim is another matter. A lack of building control certification might be something that your solicitors should have identified.
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Hi,
I completed on a shared ownership flat on 30/jan/2019. At the end of that year I was notified by the housing association that there was an outstanding service charges arrears from 16/17. Immediately contacted by solicitor who shared the enquiries statement showing the statement of account from the housing association without the charge. The housing association explained it as an ‘admin error’. They are now threatening legal action against my non payment. There is no retainer for this issue as it was not disclosed as outstanding charges. Almost two years on and they’re still demanding I pay for this error which I think is their negligence and I’m now being forced to pay for. Please help.
We cannot comment in any detail in relation to the issue between you and the landlord, as much would depend on what the service charges related to. Broadly speaking however, if there is an error on the part of the landlord, the First Tier Property Tribunal would generally absolve the landlord of some degree of liability and allow them to recover their service charges from the existing tenant. The reason for this is that as a matter of public policy, buildings with communal areas and the like do need to be managed and do need to be maintained. If a landlord was always unable to recover their service charges, it would lead to a situation where the landlord may go bust or otherwise not manage the property.
There may be a claim against the seller on the basis of unjust enrichment as during their period of ownership their service charges were accrued. There is a possible misrepresentation issue here, as an innocent misrepresentation, ie one in which the seller genuinely believed to be the case, might still have arisen.
Hi, I bought a house a couple weeks ago and I specially asked if noise such as talking, music, tv could be heard through the walls (from issues when I was in shared houses). The vendors advised that “I can confirm that I cannot hear a tv/radio/talking/music through the walls of the property”. However, having moved in I hear the neighbours children shouting and talking/tv. When I asked the question of the vendor, I referred to it as a “show stopper” question. Is there any potential come back as I would not have bought the house if I had known I would be hearing this all day long as I am very sensitive to noise? The vendors responses were confirmed in writing via the solicitors albeit I appreciate upon hindsight, the answer has been carefully worded to make it subjective.
Thank you for your comment and we are sorry to hear of the situation.
We are hesitant to say that there is a misrepresentation claim here. You are correct to identify that the response given to you was quite subjective. A statement of opinion, (ie that the seller could not hear anything) is not ordinarily actionable. Normally for a misrepresentation to occur it must be a statement of fact.
Much will turn on how the question was asked and how the response was given in the context of the matter as a whole.
Hi I bought a house as a 3 bed but have been informed that the 3 rd bedroom can not be classed as a bedroom have I been Miss sold
Thank you for your comment.
We are sorry to say that we cannot really provide any input on this, as insufficient information has been provided. We are unsure of why a bedroom could not be classed as a bedroom, or why the current or proposed use of a room in a property is relevant to the transaction in any way. Sometimes building regulations approval might not have been obtained in respect of a loft conversation intending to be a bedroom, but this doesn’t stop the seller using it as such, it just means that they are in breach of regulations, which is something that should be picked up on searches.
We would hesitantly say that you contracted to purchase a particular property and probably viewed it. Therefore, semantic arguments relating to particular rooms and whether or not one in particular can be classed as a bedroom are probably not overly relevant. It would be for the prospective purchaser to decide whether or not the property was suitable for their needs.
Hi mark thanks for the reply the bedroom is a attic conversion I have had to submit plans for another project on house and building control have told me that the attic cannot be classed as a bedroom when if we sell the house will we be able to class as a bedroom
Thank you for your further comment.
Whether or not this is a misrepresentation will depend on a number of factors. One of the important points is whether or not it was implicit or reasonable to assume in the response given to you included confirmation that any legal obligations incumbent on the seller to use the property in the way it was described to you had been complied with. We are not certain, based on case law, that this would be an actionable misrepresentation. The reason for this is that the property information form is designed to be answered and understood by a lay person who would not ordinarily have a legal background.
Whether or not there is any basis for a professional negligence claim is another matter. A lack of building control certification might be something that your solicitors should have identified.