Getting out of property contract

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dannymitchel

Registered User
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Has anyone sucessfully got out of a water tight property contract?
Have sought advice from solicitor who does not think its possible. But, there has to be loopholes or something?

Seller wont agree to anything other than buying the apartment at agreed price and under terms of contract.

The general opinion out there is that is impossible. Any advice on this would be very helpful?

Thanks
 
You knew what you were getting in to, you signed your name and committed to it. Really you should complete. Is your word not worth anything?

It is possible to get out of a valid contract if performanc of it would cause excessive hardship - but it would want to be really excessive, not merely not making the profit you want.

Without seeing the actual contract, it's very hard to give you any advice. If your solicitor, having read it, thinks it's impossible then you're probably on a loser.
 
Hi j26,
Thanks for your advice. We entered in the belief that we would close. But, the property had many problems, e.g water damage from a leak etc nothing strong enough to break the contract. It was not what we expected. We bought of the plans and they changed the spec and it was not up to standard. Our enginneer agreed on this. We are first time buyers with not a lot of money, not in it for a profit.

We will accept losing deposit. But, we are fearful of being sued.
 
Well, there's generally a clause in building agreements that the work will be done in a "good and workmanlike manner" and that where different materials are used they will be of least as good quality as the original spec, or higher. You could argue that dropping the spec, and the water damage (if they are serious enough) means that they are in breach of the terms of the contract, allowing you to rescind, and walk away (possibly able to sue for the return of the deposit).

How that would turn out largely depends on the extent of the defects, but it's worth looking into.
 
If it's not up to spec then the builder will just do remedial work to bring it up to spec. That's if the specifications are in the contract of course. When buying off plan it's very important the standards you want are in the contract.
 
If you don't complete the vendor can sue you for specific performance of the contract. If they are successfully awarded this by a court then technically you are supposed to purchase the property. However unless you have the purchase price in cash you would have to get a mortgage and if you can't do so will be unable to buy the property.

The vendor would then have to go back to the court and seek a new court order allowing them to keep the deposit and re-sell the property. They can then seek damages from you for any difference in your contract price and the price they subsequently sell the apartment although again if you have no money the chances of the vendor actually recovering damages might not be good.

If you can get a mortgage and want to live there then you can complete if you want or risk being sued. "Minor defects" with a new property are not reasons to delay completion.

If you can't get a mortgage you simply can't complete and will have to wait and see what the vendor decides to do.
 
Hi FKH,
Thank you for your advice. At the moment, they have taken deposit, have indicated this in solicitors letter. Do they have to get court order for this?
 
They don't need to go to court. General Condition 41 of the Law Society Contract for Sale allows the Vendor to keep the deposit and to re-sell the property and claim any loss from you, less credit given for the deposit.

All other remedies in law and equity are not affected by the Vendor envoking this clause. Although presumably if they wish to re-sell they would not pursue an action for specific performance.

You should consult your solicitor about the exact wording of the letter keeping the deposit
 
Hi. I'm just wondering if you had any luck getting out of your contract. I'm in a similar situation in that I have snagged(7 weeks ago). In my case there are serious issues wrong with the property(approx €40000 to rectify according to my structural engineer). I have heard absolutely nothing from the other side at all. It's now in the hands of my solicitor who was showing it to a barrister today. It's starting to get stressfull and I just want out at this stage
 
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