416 thoughts on “My Seller Lied To Me! When Is It Property Misrepresentation?”
Hi. I purchased a property January 2020. Since my daughter moved in (as my tenant) we found numerous problems. 1) had boiler services as they had no record of when serviced. The gas man said the wiring was totally dangerous, it looked like they installed it themselves. In the sales particulars and prepurchase discussions with the estate agent the vendor stated the boiler was o stalled on 2016 The property information form (which I have only just received states NO KNOWN regarding when the heating system was last serviced or installed. 2) due to the concern the gas man raised in addition to noticing a live wire just hanging from a board with load of electrics on it including a fuse box. We got an electrician to do a report. He condemned the property electrically. Some one had added sockets and just wired to the nearest one with no usual electric wire direction (critical usually) one wall had sockets but no wiring in it (the wall had been moved) but again no mention onthe property information form. (Albeit we don’t ‘ow when this was done). The electric junction box had been wired in a very dodgy way, not by a competent person. The electrician says the box is only a few years old. Again on the property information form, regarding the question about wiring they stated no. 3) A few days after my daughter moved in, she gotten flee bights all over her. Got pest control in and the whole house was completely invested. Fumigated twice but could. It do any cleaning for 10:days after each time, Yuck. 4) the bins were left full and overflowing, the carpets and blinds covered in tons of cat hairs. The grills on the top of the radiators filled to the top with cat hairs. Bathroom soap scum everywhere. Do I have a case for. Misinterpretation, regarding the electrics and boiler? My electrician will be able to prove if the installation was after 2006. Many thanks
A misrepresentation occurs when a false statement of fact is made about something which induces the other person into a contract. Not mentioning something would not ordinarily be enough for a claim. Likewise, an oral representation would also probably not be sufficient, as the standard conditions of sale which most property contracts adopt would operate to exclude verbal representations from being actionable.
However, from what you have described, there may be scope here for a claim. At a basic level, stating that it is not known when the boiler was installed, when the sellers installed it themselves could be a misrepresentation. Likewise to suggest that there had been no rewiring may also be actionable. However, you will need evidence and this might be difficult to obtain.
You really should have been supplied with the property information form before you exchanged contracts.
Pest issues, but more specifically leaving the property in a clean and tidy state is also something which the seller generally promises in the standard documentation
Hi I have a question about non disclosure. We purchased our property, exchanging contracts 12/2015. When we moved in 15/01/2016 we found a note pinned to a notice board, telling us about a sub basement room with a pump that removed water on a float switch basis. It is part of the old mill and not visible. This “room” was not mentioned in the sales literature- vendor used on online estate agent. Agent informed me they were unaware of it. It was not brought to our attention when inspecting the property. Access is via a small hatch in the basement. The surveyor was also unaware of it and there is no mention of it in the survey. Do we have any recourse due to non disclosure? Thanks
Thank you for your comment. We think it is unlikely that you have a claim for misrepresentation. There would normally need to be some statement made which actively mislead someone about the facts.
Also, a constituent part of any claim is “damage”. This is the financial loss that someone has suffered by reason of the conduct complained of. We think that it is unlikely that the presence of a small room would have any significant impact on the value of what you have purchased.
We may of course be wrong in this respect, but from what you have written, we do think you would struggle to show that you have suffered a loss.
Hi, thanks for your reply. Perhaps I wasn’t clear about the space below the basement. It is not a “small room”, it measures approximately 14×14 ft and about 15ft deep. We were recently flooded and much of the water rose up into the basement from this cavern below, causing a lot of damage to the walls and contents. The issue is one of water ingress and maintenance costs, none of which were apparent. Thanks
The issue seems to be less to do with the presence of the room but more likely issues regarding the flooding. Presumably, no mention of historical flooding appeared on the property information form. It may be the case that the property has not flooded before but if it has, then there very well may be a case of misrepresentation. You will need to somehow find evidence of historical flooding, if this is the case.
As for your damages/losses, these are not necessarily the cost of remedial works. The starting point for the measure of damages is what a reasonable person would have paid for the property knowing about the situation, namely that the property had flooded historically. This would require input from a suitably qualified surveyor.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to consider matters further.
We purchased a property in May 2015 which had a septic tank which discharged into a water course, we were aware of the septic tank (but not where it discharged) when we purchased the property however we were not aware of the new regulations and legislations regarding the tank and how they must be replaced until 2017 when we applied to extend our property. We have subsequently had to outlay approximately £10,000 installing a new sewage treatment plant but feel like we should have been informed by our solicitors regarding the original tank. Especially seeing as it was law that the system should have been upgraded if sold from 2015… we are now wondering if we have any case against the original conveyancers for failings in how the handled our purchase?
This is unlikely to be a case of misrepresentation unless, for example, something was mentioned by the seller or their solicitors which was not factually accurate.
However, there could be scope for a negligence claim depending on what you were advised at the time. It does not sound as though you were advised about the position by your solicitor and we are sure you would have remembered something like this. However, we would certainly recommend you review the correspondence that you received from them, just in case something was set out in writing, which would probably be enough to provide a defence for your solicitor. This information would often appear in what is called a “report on title”.
On the assumption that no advice was given, it was in January 2015 that the relevant new legislation was introduced. However, that legislation has undergone a number of changes over the years. If at the time there was an existing or impending requirement to upgrade your system, which there may have been, then you probably should have been advised of this and given the opportunity to negotiate the position with the seller and who was going to be responsible for this.
Clearly you would have insisted that the seller undertake the work. However, in professional negligence claims, the Court will look at what the hypothetical position would have been had the correct advice been given. There is no guarantee that the seller would have agreed to undertake the work or apply a discount to the purchase price (but there is a good possibility of this if they were going to face the same problem with an alternative buyer).
The loss you have suffered is therefore not necessarily the full cost of undertaking the work. What you have lost is an opportunity, in this case, you have lost the chance to negotiate. The Court will consider the likelihood of the seller having agreed to a discount representing the full cost of the works. If there is a possibility that the full cost might not have been agreed, then it will often apply a loss of an opportunity “discount” to the value of the claim. Put in more simple terms, if the Court considers that there was a 90% chance that the buyer would have agreed to a discount on the sale price or undertaken the works, then it would award 90% of the losses you have suffered. For example, if a property is in a highly desirable area, a purchaser may be more inclined to accept that they would have to undertake work at their own cost in order to secure the purchase and a seller more likely to see if they can find a buyer who is. This is the generally the same way the Court assesses losses for most professional negligence claims, such as claims against surveyors.
Do feel free to get in touch with us if you would like us to look into the position for you.
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Hi. I purchased a property January 2020. Since my daughter moved in (as my tenant) we found numerous problems.
1) had boiler services as they had no record of when serviced. The gas man said the wiring was totally dangerous, it looked like they installed it themselves. In the sales particulars and prepurchase discussions with the estate agent the vendor stated the boiler was o stalled on 2016
The property information form (which I have only just received states NO KNOWN regarding when the heating system was last serviced or installed.
2) due to the concern the gas man raised in addition to noticing a live wire just hanging from a board with load of electrics on it including a fuse box. We got an electrician to do a report.
He condemned the property electrically. Some one had added sockets and just wired to the nearest one with no usual electric wire direction (critical usually) one wall had sockets but no wiring in it (the wall had been moved) but again no mention onthe property information form. (Albeit we don’t ‘ow when this was done). The electric junction box had been wired in a very dodgy way, not by a competent person. The electrician says the box is only a few years old.
Again on the property information form, regarding the question about wiring they stated no.
3) A few days after my daughter moved in, she gotten flee bights all over her. Got pest control in and the whole house was completely invested. Fumigated twice but could. It do any cleaning for 10:days after each time, Yuck.
4) the bins were left full and overflowing, the carpets and blinds covered in tons of cat hairs. The grills on the top of the radiators filled to the top with cat hairs. Bathroom soap scum everywhere.
Do I have a case for. Misinterpretation, regarding the electrics and boiler? My electrician will be able to prove if the installation was after 2006.
Many thanks
Thank you for your comment, Penny.
A misrepresentation occurs when a false statement of fact is made about something which induces the other person into a contract. Not mentioning something would not ordinarily be enough for a claim. Likewise, an oral representation would also probably not be sufficient, as the standard conditions of sale which most property contracts adopt would operate to exclude verbal representations from being actionable.
However, from what you have described, there may be scope here for a claim. At a basic level, stating that it is not known when the boiler was installed, when the sellers installed it themselves could be a misrepresentation. Likewise to suggest that there had been no rewiring may also be actionable. However, you will need evidence and this might be difficult to obtain.
You really should have been supplied with the property information form before you exchanged contracts.
Pest issues, but more specifically leaving the property in a clean and tidy state is also something which the seller generally promises in the standard documentation
Hi I have a question about non disclosure. We purchased our property, exchanging contracts 12/2015. When we moved in 15/01/2016 we found a note pinned to a notice board, telling us about a sub basement room with a pump that removed water on a float switch basis. It is part of the old mill and not visible. This “room” was not mentioned in the sales literature- vendor used on online estate agent. Agent informed me they were unaware of it. It was not brought to our attention when inspecting the property. Access is via a small hatch in the basement. The surveyor was also unaware of it and there is no mention of it in the survey. Do we have any recourse due to non disclosure? Thanks
Thank you for your comment. We think it is unlikely that you have a claim for misrepresentation. There would normally need to be some statement made which actively mislead someone about the facts.
Also, a constituent part of any claim is “damage”. This is the financial loss that someone has suffered by reason of the conduct complained of. We think that it is unlikely that the presence of a small room would have any significant impact on the value of what you have purchased.
We may of course be wrong in this respect, but from what you have written, we do think you would struggle to show that you have suffered a loss.
Hi, thanks for your reply. Perhaps I wasn’t clear about the space below the basement. It is not a “small room”, it measures approximately 14×14 ft and about 15ft deep. We were recently flooded and much of the water rose up into the basement from this cavern below, causing a lot of damage to the walls and contents. The issue is one of water ingress and maintenance costs, none of which were apparent. Thanks
Thank you for the clarification Kieran.
The issue seems to be less to do with the presence of the room but more likely issues regarding the flooding. Presumably, no mention of historical flooding appeared on the property information form. It may be the case that the property has not flooded before but if it has, then there very well may be a case of misrepresentation. You will need to somehow find evidence of historical flooding, if this is the case.
As for your damages/losses, these are not necessarily the cost of remedial works. The starting point for the measure of damages is what a reasonable person would have paid for the property knowing about the situation, namely that the property had flooded historically. This would require input from a suitably qualified surveyor.
Do feel free to get in touch if you would like to consider matters further.
We purchased a property in May 2015 which had a septic tank which discharged into a water course, we were aware of the septic tank (but not where it discharged) when we purchased the property however we were not aware of the new regulations and legislations regarding the tank and how they must be replaced until 2017 when we applied to extend our property. We have subsequently had to outlay approximately £10,000 installing a new sewage treatment plant but feel like we should have been informed by our solicitors regarding the original tank. Especially seeing as it was law that the system should have been upgraded if sold from 2015… we are now wondering if we have any case against the original conveyancers for failings in how the handled our purchase?
Thank you for your comment, Sasha.
This is unlikely to be a case of misrepresentation unless, for example, something was mentioned by the seller or their solicitors which was not factually accurate.
However, there could be scope for a negligence claim depending on what you were advised at the time. It does not sound as though you were advised about the position by your solicitor and we are sure you would have remembered something like this. However, we would certainly recommend you review the correspondence that you received from them, just in case something was set out in writing, which would probably be enough to provide a defence for your solicitor. This information would often appear in what is called a “report on title”.
On the assumption that no advice was given, it was in January 2015 that the relevant new legislation was introduced. However, that legislation has undergone a number of changes over the years. If at the time there was an existing or impending requirement to upgrade your system, which there may have been, then you probably should have been advised of this and given the opportunity to negotiate the position with the seller and who was going to be responsible for this.
Clearly you would have insisted that the seller undertake the work. However, in professional negligence claims, the Court will look at what the hypothetical position would have been had the correct advice been given. There is no guarantee that the seller would have agreed to undertake the work or apply a discount to the purchase price (but there is a good possibility of this if they were going to face the same problem with an alternative buyer).
The loss you have suffered is therefore not necessarily the full cost of undertaking the work. What you have lost is an opportunity, in this case, you have lost the chance to negotiate. The Court will consider the likelihood of the seller having agreed to a discount representing the full cost of the works. If there is a possibility that the full cost might not have been agreed, then it will often apply a loss of an opportunity “discount” to the value of the claim. Put in more simple terms, if the Court considers that there was a 90% chance that the buyer would have agreed to a discount on the sale price or undertaken the works, then it would award 90% of the losses you have suffered. For example, if a property is in a highly desirable area, a purchaser may be more inclined to accept that they would have to undertake work at their own cost in order to secure the purchase and a seller more likely to see if they can find a buyer who is. This is the generally the same way the Court assesses losses for most professional negligence claims, such as claims against surveyors.
Do feel free to get in touch with us if you would like us to look into the position for you.