House buying what a ****!?

Question

Have sold my house in august and put an offer in on a property i wanted within a day of accepting our offer.
Get a phone call today that the person i was buying the house off has pulled out of the sale which has now cost us our sale , it turns out that to spite her ex she put the house on the market with no intension of selling she has used us in game to get back at her husband , so a lot of money later we are left not knowing what to do.
We are doing a transfer of security so the condition is our house has to sell for us to move or we incure a 6 thousand pound redemption charge as we have only lived in our house 18 months ,is there anyone out there that knows of a legal way to do something about this please x

I can not move into rented as that would end my morgage and i would incure the £6000 fee , she did agree the sale but we do not know what she sighned and what she did not her solicitor is an a ss and will not communicate fully with ours..

Answer 1

If the seller does not accept your offer, you have no deal. If the seller did accept your offer, you can sue for specific performance on your contract. If the seller did not have the right to list the property for sale without the consent of a co-owner, any broker might find himself in hot water and you have a good reason to talk to a lawyer.

Answer 2

I'm a Realtor in California and I know that you can file suit to "Pay or Quit." This means that once someone has entered into a contract and they break the contract, they are liable for damages and/or can be required to do something-like sell the house they said they were going to sell.

As an Angelino, I'm going to tell you to sue, sue, sue! As if you were calling pigs. Sue the people selling for backing out of the contract, sue their real estate agent and most importantly, sue the title company, because you can't put a house on the market until you check to see that whoever is selling it has the legal right to do so. If seller A said she was married, the title company would need to check to see 1) what kind of title the couple held (i.e. joint tenancy, community property, tenancy in common, etc.) 2) if both were in agreement to sell.

I feel really bad for you, but all is not lost. Good luck with house hunting and I hope you find another buyer soon.

Cheers.

Answer 3

I'd sell the money drain, sorry, Trans Am, buy a non-trendy reliable car with about half of the money and put the rest down as a house deposit. You don't own a car you can use or a house and you have $12000 tied up in something you can't even drive and have to pay to store? That's just nuts. I also don't understand how you have to put your car in storage for safety reasons, but in several years it'll be fine and dandy for your sons to drive it. Either it's safe or it isn't. I have no idea why you'd even consider buying a new car when you are so badly off financially.

Answer 4

Are you using a REALTOR? If so - they should be able to help. Here's the deal - if they signed a purchase agreement and you signed a purchase agreement and there are no other stipulations written into that agreement - then they cannot legally back out. Even if you don't have a formal purchase agreement, any written, signed agreement between the two parties should stand up. Just be prepared - If they are putting up a fight - it won't be easy and could be drawn out. You need to contact an attorney right away. You can often get a free first session to determine whether or not they can help you. Good luck!

Answer 5

First, have you actually sold your house, or just accepted an offer? If she has pulled out of her deal, why can't you pull out of the deal to sell your house. It's annoying, but a part of this stupid English house buying system.

You have no recourse to sue this woman for damages, as I am guessing you have not exchanged contracts yet.

for US people, the when you buy/sell a house you don't sign the actual contract to buy/sell until a few days before the money is transferred. An agreement to buy/sell is a completely informal and uninforcible agreement. It is very precarious, and a buyer can spend thousands of pounds on solicitors and surveys with no guarantee of the house sale actually going ahead.

Answer 6

I sold a house in february this year.the second viewer decided to buy it.they viewed in august last year.Solicitors are notorious for pointing the finger to everyone else.Looks like for one reason or another you have been gazumped.sad story and a big expence as you say.next time ,when you put an offer in ,try to get a signed agreement from the vendors.but as this is not a legal requirement ,you will be lucky to get that too.They basicaly got us from you know what.sorry I know i did not help but you not the only one this has happened to,best of luck

Answer 7

If you were in the States I could. Over here, once a seller signs a contract to sell, they can't back out unless some contingency that was written into the contract wasn't met (such as finding another house in x amount of days). The buyer can sue to force the sale.

Answer 8

actually, i am not fully aware of the laws where you are, but in the US you can sue them either to perform on the contract (basically force them to sell) or sue them for non-performance of contract. There is a reason you sign a contract instead of just saying, SURE, I will buy your house.. lets do it. That is why the attorneys are involved and all the crap you pay for.. because it is a legal and binding transaction.

Answer 9

Carry on with the sale of your house, rent or move in with family and you will be in a prime position for buying your next property as you won't be in a chain. I can't help on the legal side so I hope you get some good advice for others. It sounds like a rotten deal.

Answer 10

I do believe you have legal recourse... consult a real estate attorney. The house that I bought... the people were going to pull out the day of closing, and we were told we could sue. Good Luck.