416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
Hi, I bought a house on the edge of a new development 2 years ago, and was told by numerous staff of the developer that a 4m strip running behind the gardens was a wildlife corridor. It was populated by many mature trees and had the effect that our house was not overlooked. Several neighbours on the road behind have since claimed parts of this strip as their gardens, removing the trees in the process. All of my neighbours were told the same, BUT it does not appear on the plans, appears to be an ignored issue. Developer claims now that this is nothing to do with them, and that the council has given permission. The council have not told me this, they claim to not know. Can we hold the developer responsible for verbal promises?
Thank you for your comment. As to whether a buyer can hold a seller liable for oral misrepresentations usually depends primarily on two things. The first is the terms of the contract of sale. This normally has a “standard” clause contractually excluding liability for oral representations. This is actually sensible. It avoids arguments in
the future about “who said what” and on the basis that if the issue is important to the buyer, the buyer should be looking to include a particular contractual clause about the issue. The second is whether or not there is fraud. If a seller deliberately misleads a buyer knowing what they are saying is untrue, the any clauses looking to exclude or limit liability will not generally work. This is because you cannot exclude liability for fraud from a contract.
I purchased a property in September without involving a surveyor. The internal area of the property was advertised as 160 SQM (1722 SQF) in their marketing materials with planning permissions in place to extend it to ~220 SQM (2400 SQF). Upon measuring the property now as it is, it turned out to be 123 square meters (1328 square feet) (attached). The difference is quite major being almost 40 square meters. I do have the brochure from the seller, which states a fake size of 160 SQM (mentioned as approximate gross internal area) and multiple correspondences with the seller stating fake numbers as well.
The scale of the advertised property has a major financial loss to me, and I wish to recover the loss. Please let me know if you can advise on and carry the claim forward.
I know this requires thorough legal investigation to determine if I have a case here or not but that investigation cost quite a bit. I want to get a sense from someone if given the information above, it is worthwhile investigating this further or not. To me, it seems insane that a seller can misrepresent to such an extent the size & the opportunity of a property whether knowingly or not.
You should probably give us a call to discuss the matter. We are an approachable firm and generally happy to have a quick no obligations conversation.
What we would say here is that what you are talking about will either be breach of contract or misrepresentation as a basis of claim, probably the latter.
Ultimately the basic position is that the buyer must satisfy themselves as to what they are buying. The position changes where there has been something stated, as a matter of fact, by the seller which is
wrong. Your ability to bring a misrepresentation claim will depend on the contractual terms agreed to and the nature of what was said. For example, an honest error and a contractual clause that excludes liability for misrepresentation might prevent a claim. A dishonest intention (which is hard to prove) means that such a clause will potentially be ineffective, as you cannot exclude liability for fraud from a contract.
I bought a house in June 2021 , the house had a lot of crack’s which seller did not make us aware of , as he had those all covered with materials placed around them , the boiler was broken down , the jacuzzi was leaking, the electric wiring was dodgy according to inspection made by an electrician. It’s been quite a while, will I still have right of making a claim against the seller?
Whether or not you have a claim will depend on a lot of things but primarily when the contact completed, first and foremost.
Fraud and deliberate concealment on the part of a defendant (so far as it can be proved, which is a high evidential burden) can extend what are known as as “limitation periods” (i.e. statutory deadlines to bring claims).
What we would say is if the seller made no representation as to the condition of anything, the prospect of an actionable misrepresentation claim with any real prospect of success existing is minimal.
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Hi, I bought a house on the edge of a new development 2 years ago, and was told by numerous staff of the developer that a 4m strip running behind the gardens was a wildlife corridor. It was populated by many mature trees and had the effect that our house was not overlooked. Several neighbours on the road behind have since claimed parts of this strip as their gardens, removing the trees in the process. All of my neighbours were told the same, BUT it does not appear on the plans, appears to be an ignored issue. Developer claims now that this is nothing to do with them, and that the council has given permission. The council have not told me this, they claim to not know. Can we hold the developer responsible for verbal promises?
Thank you for your comment.
As to whether a buyer can hold a seller liable for oral misrepresentations usually depends primarily on
two things. The first is the terms of the contract of sale. This normally has a “standard” clause
contractually excluding liability for oral representations. This is actually sensible. It avoids arguments in
the future about “who said what” and on the basis that if the issue is important to the buyer, the buyer
should be looking to include a particular contractual clause about the issue.
The second is whether or not there is fraud. If a seller deliberately misleads a buyer knowing what they
are saying is untrue, the any clauses looking to exclude or limit liability will not generally work. This is
because you cannot exclude liability for fraud from a contract.
I purchased a property in September without involving a surveyor. The internal area of the property was advertised as 160 SQM (1722 SQF) in their marketing materials with planning permissions in place to extend it to ~220 SQM (2400 SQF). Upon measuring the property now as it is, it turned out to be 123 square meters (1328 square feet) (attached). The difference is quite major being almost 40 square meters. I do have the brochure from the seller, which states a fake size of 160 SQM (mentioned as approximate gross internal area) and multiple correspondences with the seller stating fake numbers as well.
The scale of the advertised property has a major financial loss to me, and I wish to recover the loss. Please let me know if you can advise on and carry the claim forward.
I know this requires thorough legal investigation to determine if I have a case here or not but that investigation cost quite a bit. I want to get a sense from someone if given the information above, it is worthwhile investigating this further or not. To me, it seems insane that a seller can misrepresent to such an extent the size & the opportunity of a property whether knowingly or not.
Thank you for your comment.
You should probably give us a call to discuss the matter. We are an approachable firm and generally
happy to have a quick no obligations conversation.
What we would say here is that what you are talking about will either be breach of contract or
misrepresentation as a basis of claim, probably the latter.
Ultimately the basic position is that the buyer must satisfy themselves as to what they are buying. The
position changes where there has been something stated, as a matter of fact, by the seller which is
wrong. Your ability to bring a misrepresentation claim will depend on the contractual terms agreed to
and the nature of what was said. For example, an honest error and a contractual clause that excludes
liability for misrepresentation might prevent a claim. A dishonest intention (which is hard to prove)
means that such a clause will potentially be ineffective, as you cannot exclude liability for fraud from a
contract.
Hi ,
I bought a house in June 2021 , the house had a lot of crack’s which seller did not make us aware of , as he had those all covered with materials placed around them , the boiler was broken down , the jacuzzi was leaking, the electric wiring was dodgy according to inspection made by an electrician.
It’s been quite a while, will I still have right of making a claim against the seller?
Thanks
Thank you for your comment.
Whether or not you have a claim will depend on a lot of things but primarily when the contact completed, first and foremost.
Fraud and deliberate concealment on the part of a defendant (so far as it can be proved, which is a high evidential burden) can extend what are known as as “limitation periods” (i.e. statutory deadlines to bring claims).
What we would say is if the seller made no representation as to the condition of anything, the prospect of an actionable misrepresentation claim with any real prospect of success existing is minimal.