Purchaser moved in before house sale closed

D

Dunners

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We're in the final stages of selling our house - purchaser has signed the contracts & paid a non-refundable deposit. We're ready to sign, and are just waiting on minor legal queries to be resolved by our own solicitor, primarily with return of planning documentation from the county council, which has been taking a while.

The estate agent asked me a few weeks ago if it was ok for the purchaser to leave a few items in the house and we agreed that he could, as long as he wasn't given any keys.
I called out there tonight (don't live in the area any more so haven't been there for a while), and when I entered the house, it became very clear that someone is now living in the house - fully furnished, TV on standby, food in the presses etc.

I'm so annoyed at the EA for blatantly lying to me and wouldn't be surprised if he's collecting rent until the sale closes. Also, I don't see how this person can be insured on the property as we're still paying the insurance / electricity etc until we've signed the contracts. I'm going to see the EA tomorrow, but before I do, would really appreciate some advice on what our legal position is. We do obviously want the sale to go through but feel so let down by the EA. Can we demand a reduction in their fees / rent in lieu of the bridging we've been paying for the past few months? Can we threaten to sue even???

All advice welcome!
 
Not a lot of help but my EA started to be more of a friend to the purchaser than to me in the closing weeks of a sale. I was so concerned about his actions that I asked him to place the key he had in a sealed envelope from me until he was instructed to hand over the keys on closing.

On your point the EA may say that the buyer made himself a copy of the key they gave him. Don't give the EA any forewarning and demand the key he holds back before dealing with the issue of someone in the house. Also if you can get in touch with the buyer at the house beforehand to hear their story.
 
thanks Davidoco - might try to see if we can speak to the purchaser to get his side of the story, because I'm not sure I'll believe anything else the EA says...

Clubman, haven't spoken to our solicitor yet, but will also be calling them first thing in the morning.

We definitely don't want to stop the sale from going through. However, I don't want us to be liable for any accidents on the premises while he's there. also, i wouldn't mind seeing if we could draw up some kind of agreement with him, perhaps to cover costs during this interim period....
 
Would the purchaser have their own insurance in place by now? My solicitor advised not to sign contracts until this was done, even though the vendors were still living there.
 
you can insure the property once you have a deposit paid. Before I drew down the mortgage for my house the bank wanted to see the house insurance first.
 
Just wanted to update you on how this all ended up....!

Called to the house but purchaser wasn't there, so wasn't immediately able to get his side of the story. We then called into the estate agent and had a bit of a show-down!! They denied that they knew anything about it and kept trying to pass the blame around within their own organisation but nobody could tell us who handed out the keys and never got them back...

We then called the purchaser while everyone was in the office and his story was that he had a verbal agreement from his solicitor that he could move into the house immediately. As far as my own dealings with solicitors go, I've never ever had any verbal agreement - everything has always been in writing. Purchaser also wouldn't tell us who in the EA's office handed him the keys - says he couldn't remember... he also said that he had lodged the full mortgage amount 3 weeks previously, so it looks like his own solicitor may have come up with some very irrelevant queries just to hold up the process, all the while sitting on the interest earned on the mortgage cheque.

We also called a friend who works for a large Dublin EA, and he said that this is such a serious issue that it previously resulted in someone being fired over it. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we've agreed that we're absolutely not paying the EA's fees and that the purchaser will need to pay for all utilities used since he moved in. Our solicitor also advised that we can take this further if we wish, but I think we might just leave it at that for now....

Moral of the story - EA was at fault, as they were responsible for management of the keys; but the purchasers solicitor also seems guilty of holding up the show for their own financial gain.... I reckon if you find a decent, honest and trustworthy EA and solicitor, hang on to them for dear life!!!
 
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