416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
I baught a house with a hmo licence. Upon reapplying for the houae i found there is no planning permission for the hmo. Can i bring a vase agianst the seller or my solicitor for mot checking the planning.
We are sorry to say that we cannot give a yes or no answer to this. It depends heavily on the circumstances.
As for a claim against the seller, if you were expressly told it had a licence, or there was documentation, normally within the auction pack, which could reasonably have been said to suggest that this was the case (so not merely an assumption in your part) then there may be a basis of claim against the seller for misrepresentation.
As for your solicitors, you would generally expect to receive some advice as to legal aspects of matters affecting a property. However, the terms of the retainer with your solicitor would be very important to consider. The retainer is the agreement between a solicitor and client and sets out what the solicitor has agreed to do. Before we were able to consider whether or not there was a professional negligence claim, we would need to consider the terms of the retainer and facts of the matter in more detail.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to consider things in more detail with us.
We purchased our first property a month ago. We knew the property needed a majority of it gutting inside as the owners dogs had urinated in most rooms and it was mucky when we went to view. However, The previous owners have left rubbish in the garden, an outbuilding and two garden sheds, as well as chicken runs with chicken manure a couple of cms deep and a rat problem. We have so far had to pay for 2 skips to remove solely the rubbish they have left, they confirmed to the estate agent it was not wanted and we are going to need another 1 or 2 skips to finish removing it. On the contents and fixtures that they have signed and dated it does say they are responsible for clearing any rubbish including in gardens, shed, outbuildings etc. We do not have an address to get in touch with them, can we do anything?
Subject to any agreed terms and conditions in relation to the sale, the general position would be that a representation made during the course of the transaction, made in writing and passing between the parties’ solicitors, to remove rubbish from the property after completion would potentially be actionable, so far as the buyer relied on this when exchanging contracts.
Normally the basis of damages in a property misrepresentation claim is based on diminution in value. This is the difference between what was paid for the property and what it was worth with the defect complained of. There is some limited scope in case law to claim the cost of rectification, however, so there may very well be scope to claim the additional losses arising.
In the first instance, you should get advice from your conveyancing solicitors on this, as they will be aware of the relevant contractual position and may be prepared to raise this as an issue with your seller.
We brought a house nearly two years ago now and the only thing on the form about neighbours was a dispute over whose fence was whose but we have had nothing but problems with said neighbour since we moved in, playing loud music, her kids damaging our cars etc. And have just recently found out that the seller moved because of the same issues only worse as the neighbour smashed all sellers car windows and keyed her car. If we had known this we would never have gone through with buying property as we have had two years of hell and our kids can’t even sleep in their bedrooms because of the noise, I’m so angry with previous owner as she knew we had young children Can we get any help with this matter ? Thanks
Thank you for your comment and we are sorry to hear of these issues. We are aware of how horrible it can be to have problem neighbours.
Whilst we cannot give legal advice on our website, primarily because we are not able to consider all of the evidence involved and every case will be different on its facts, we can set out some general points which might apply to your issue.
In some cases, a misrepresentation can occur in circumstances where the representation itself is true or accurate but because of what is left unsaid, this representation is misleading. In context, if you were advised that there was a possible dispute over the fence and this was true, but the reality of the situation is that there were other aspects of the relationship with the neighbours which could lead to a dispute and the seller was aware of these, the fact that these other details were not mentioned in response to any specific question could give rise to a claim in misrepresentation.
This is not as straightforward as a “traditional” misrepresentation claim in this context, as it would also be necessary to prove that the seller was aware that you were proceeding under an incorrect misunderstanding of the facts that the only issue with the neighbour was that relating to the fence. We think it is unlikely that this would be an issue to prove, as if the precedent Property Information Form (TA6) produced by the Law Society was used, this contains a lot of guidance notes to both the seller and buyer about how important it is for the answers provided should be accurate. We think it would be difficult for a seller to argue that they were not aware of this or that a buyer would rely on what was communicated to them. However, if you do have evidence of previous issues, which make the representation given to you about the existing relationship with the neighbours arguably inaccurate, then there may very well be a basis of claim.
Please do feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss matters in more detail.
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I baught a house with a hmo licence. Upon reapplying for the houae i found there is no planning permission for the hmo. Can i bring a vase agianst the seller or my solicitor for mot checking the planning.
Thank you for your comment.
We are sorry to say that we cannot give a yes or no answer to this. It depends heavily on the circumstances.
As for a claim against the seller, if you were expressly told it had a licence, or there was documentation, normally within the auction pack, which could reasonably have been said to suggest that this was the case (so not merely an assumption in your part) then there may be a basis of claim against the seller for misrepresentation.
As for your solicitors, you would generally expect to receive some advice as to legal aspects of matters affecting a property. However, the terms of the retainer with your solicitor would be very important to consider. The retainer is the agreement between a solicitor and client and sets out what the solicitor has agreed to do. Before we were able to consider whether or not there was a professional negligence claim, we would need to consider the terms of the retainer and facts of the matter in more detail.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to consider things in more detail with us.
Hi,
We purchased our first property a month ago. We knew the property needed a majority of it gutting inside as the owners dogs had urinated in most rooms and it was mucky when we went to view. However, The previous owners have left rubbish in the garden, an outbuilding and two garden sheds, as well as chicken runs with chicken manure a couple of cms deep and a rat problem.
We have so far had to pay for 2 skips to remove solely the rubbish they have left, they confirmed to the estate agent it was not wanted and we are going to need another 1 or 2 skips to finish removing it.
On the contents and fixtures that they have signed and dated it does say they are responsible for clearing any rubbish including in gardens, shed, outbuildings etc.
We do not have an address to get in touch with them, can we do anything?
Subject to any agreed terms and conditions in relation to the sale, the general position would be that a representation made during the course of the transaction, made in writing and passing between the parties’ solicitors, to remove rubbish from the property after completion would potentially be actionable, so far as the buyer relied on this when exchanging contracts.
Normally the basis of damages in a property misrepresentation claim is based on diminution in value. This is the difference between what was paid for the property and what it was worth with the defect complained of. There is some limited scope in case law to claim the cost of rectification, however, so there may very well be scope to claim the additional losses arising.
In the first instance, you should get advice from your conveyancing solicitors on this, as they will be aware of the relevant contractual position and may be prepared to raise this as an issue with your seller.
We brought a house nearly two years ago now and the only thing on the form about neighbours was a dispute over whose fence was whose but we have had nothing but problems with said neighbour since we moved in, playing loud music, her kids damaging our cars etc. And have just recently found out that the seller moved because of the same issues only worse as the neighbour smashed all sellers car windows and keyed her car.
If we had known this we would never have gone through with buying property as we have had two years of hell and our kids can’t even sleep in their bedrooms because of the noise, I’m so angry with previous owner as she knew we had young children
Can we get any help with this matter ?
Thanks
Thank you for your comment and we are sorry to hear of these issues. We are aware of how horrible it can be to have problem neighbours.
Whilst we cannot give legal advice on our website, primarily because we are not able to consider all of the evidence involved and every case will be different on its facts, we can set out some general points which might apply to your issue.
In some cases, a misrepresentation can occur in circumstances where the representation itself is true or accurate but because of what is left unsaid, this representation is misleading. In context, if you were advised that there was a possible dispute over the fence and this was true, but the reality of the situation is that there were other aspects of the relationship with the neighbours which could lead to a dispute and the seller was aware of these, the fact that these other details were not mentioned in response to any specific question could give rise to a claim in misrepresentation.
This is not as straightforward as a “traditional” misrepresentation claim in this context, as it would also be necessary to prove that the seller was aware that you were proceeding under an incorrect misunderstanding of the facts that the only issue with the neighbour was that relating to the fence. We think it is unlikely that this would be an issue to prove, as if the precedent Property Information Form (TA6) produced by the Law Society was used, this contains a lot of guidance notes to both the seller and buyer about how important it is for the answers provided should be accurate. We think it would be difficult for a seller to argue that they were not aware of this or that a buyer would rely on what was communicated to them. However, if you do have evidence of previous issues, which make the representation given to you about the existing relationship with the neighbours arguably inaccurate, then there may very well be a basis of claim.
Please do feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss matters in more detail.