Buying house bank owns

My partner and I are trying to buy a house since Janurary, contracts are signed by both parties and the mortgage is in the solicitors waiting to be sanctioned. We just found out today that the bank has the deeds for the house which we were not told in the beginning of the buying process nor was our solicitor. The house is being sold at a very reasonable price and the bank is not happy releasing the deeds for the price, they believe it should be sold for more as the developer is in debt. Can anyone advise how long this procedure should take and where do we stand now? We have our heart set on this house and alot of money spent on it!

Hi Mol

Do you have a contract to purchase the house signed by the sellers?

If so, then you have a binding contract and you should be able to force the sale of the house to you.

If the solicitor acting for the seller did not get the bank's approval, that is between the solicitor, the seller and the bank and should not affect you. I am assuming that you were not involved in any underhand activity to buy a house at under value to defraud the bank.

Hello Brendan,

Yes the seller has signed the contract and so have we. Everyting is perfectly legal we did everything through our solicitor and the estate agent. The estate agent told us when viewing the house that there was no negotiating so we went with the asking price. We thought that we would have the key this week but were advised today that the dalay was the bank not handing over the deeds.

We are paying rent and were hoping to move into the house ASAP but its not looking good at the moment.

Hi mol

Relax. The house is yours. You seem to have got a great bargain if the bank is objecting.

These things take time but you will get the house soon.

Brendan

Brendan Burgess said:

Hi mol

Relax. The house is yours. You seem to have got a great bargain if the bank is objecting.

These things take time but you will get the house soon.

Brendan

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Ummm. I would not be so confident. Words like "developer", "bank" and "debt" all sound worryingly desperate.

Contract or no contract, if you have to sue someone with no money, to get satisfaction, at considerable expense.................

Talk to your own solicitor. Everything anyone says on an anonymous Internet forum is pure speculation without knowing the real facts.

mf

Hi mf1

As a seller, I would not be confident as someone without money can't be forced to buy.

But as a buyer, can I not force someone with a house to give it to me if the contracts are properly signed?

Could the bank really stop it? Would they not have a right of action against the solicitor for the sale?

Brendan Burgess said:

Hi mf1

As a seller, I would not be confident as someone without money can't be forced to buy.

But as a buyer, can I not force someone with a house to give it to me if the contracts are properly signed?

Could the bank really stop it? Would they not have a right of action against the solicitor for the sale?

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For a start, OP is unclear about the facts BUT, from their perspective, this could be the situation:

1. Vendor lied to everyone about their capacity to sell.
2. No-one had any reason to doubt what they were being told.
3. Contract is between vendor and purchaser. Not between the solicitors.
4. Purchaser can sue but if vendor was not in a position to sell, a Court is unlikely to compel the bank to release the deeds.

It would be interesting to know what the actual facts of the case are. I'd be saying get your head around this and actually listen to the bad stuff and not:

"We have our heart set on this house and alot of money spent on it! "

mf

Hi mf

3. Contract is between vendor and purchaser. Not between the solicitors.

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OK. I was thinking in terms of an ordinary seller where I presume that the solicitor would verify the title before drawing up the contract to sell. If I signed contracts to buy and the seller was not entitled to sell, I would certainly go after the solicitor for the vendor.

I would have thought that selling on behalf of a property developer would involve something similar. Maybe it doesn't.

Brendan

"I would certainly go after the solicitor for the vendor"

Yizzer missing the point Mister! Go after the vendor - you don't even know the facts and you're already going after the solicitor!

The title is probably fine - its the capacity of the vendor to sell that may be the problem.

And, like I say, it would be interesting to know what the actual facts of the case are.

mf