Pulling out of House Purchase

We recently put a deposit on a holiday home and have had contracts sent to us by the vendors solicitor. We have signed the contracts but our solicitor has not sent them back yet.

We are starting to get cold feet and have asked our solicitor if we can back out.

She says that even though she has not sent the contracts back she has informed the vendors in writing that she has signed contracts and is holding them pending resolution of some minor queries.

My question is can we just tear up the contract or does the solicitors letter to the vendor act as some kind of evidence that we signed and even if it does the fact that the vendor has'nt signed does it mean that there is no contract.

We paid a refundable 10k booking deposit and have paid over the remainder of the 10% deposit to our solicitor but she has not passed it on.

She is humming and hawing about our commitment legally due to the letter that was sent confirming we had signed.

Is she wondering about her own reputation in this?

Yes, I think so . Thats why she's not anxious for us to pull out IMO and I am trying to see if anyone had a similar experience.

I think we can just tear the contracts up but if the vendors disagree it might be hard to get at least our 10k back.

"She says that even though she has not sent the contracts back she has informed the vendors in writing that she has signed contracts and is holding them pending resolution of some minor queries."

But why sign contracts if you have concerns? I would say that you are in grey area, that the fact that contracts have not been exchanged is indicative of concerns but if your solicitor has made a commitment on your behalf then you are somewhat stuck.

By all means, walk away, but do try not to blame your solicitor for your change of mind and the possible consequences.

mf

I am not trying to blame the solicitor for our position. I fully accept that we are the people who changed our minds. I just think the easy way out for her is to persuade us to complete (and to be honest we havent finalised that decision yet) but I am trying to get opinions on our legal position.

Your legal position is grey on the facts. Whatever your solicitor indicated in correspondence could lead a Court to say that you are contractually bound. Perhaps she should not have done that. Much will also depend on what your vendor is willing to do.

mf

I would say in this climate the vendor will push to complete. It is a new development with lots of unsold houses.