Repudiation Notice

F

Fella1977

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I bought an apartment off plans in early 2007. It was supposed to be originally finished in Aug 2008 but the original contract gave the developer until May 2009 to complete. After hearing nothing until April 2009, 2 weeks before the end of the contract, i received the completion certificate. After viewing the apartment it was clearly not ready but we were advised by our solicitor to snag anyway as we would be in breach of contract if we didnt.

My solicitor sent a letter to the developer saying that we did not accept the validity of the completion notice. This was supported by a letter from the company who did the snag and also loads of photos which clearly showed that the apartment and common areas were not complete.

The developer never responded to our claim and just told us that our snag was complete. We have now received a Repudiation Notice saying that if we do not close the sale within 7 days, the apartment will be placed back on the market and the developer will sue us for the difference in price between purchase price and whatever they can get. I suspect this difference will be in the region of approx €200k plus based on the current valuation.

We therefore have 2 choices: Either we talk to the developer and renegotiate the price or we stand our ground and the case may eventually go to court where they attempt to sue us.

Has anything similar happened to anyone and do you think if we do not close the sale, that the case would go to court?
 
Who was the completion certificate from [no names, I mean was it from the contractor or an architect acting on his behalf]?
If a cert, was it an Opinion of Compliance from an Architect enclosing Schedule A Assurances in relation to the design of the structure [engineers], the heating and plumbing [mechanical contractor] the lighting and power [electrical contractor] and the fire detection and alarm system [whoever designed and commissioned this].
Did you or your agents attend to see if the uncompleted works noted on your snag list had been completed and were they?

ONQ
 
Fella1977 said:
I bought an apartment off plans in early 2007. It was supposed to be originally finished in Aug 2008 but the original contract gave the developer until May 2009 to complete. After hearing nothing until April 2009, 2 weeks before the end of the contract, i received the completion certificate. After viewing the apartment it was clearly not ready but we were advised by our solicitor to snag anyway as we would be in breach of contract if we didnt.

My solicitor sent a letter to the developer saying that we did not accept the validity of the completion notice. This was supported by a letter from the company who did the snag and also loads of photos which clearly showed that the apartment and common areas were not complete.

The developer never responded to our claim and just told us that our snag was complete. We have now received a Repudiation Notice saying that if we do not close the sale within 7 days, the apartment will be placed back on the market and the developer will sue us for the difference in price between purchase price and whatever they can get. I suspect this difference will be in the region of approx €200k plus based on the current valuation.

We therefore have 2 choices: Either we talk to the developer and renegotiate the price or we stand our ground and the case may eventually go to court where they attempt to sue us.

Has anything similar happened to anyone and do you think if we do not close the sale, that the case would go to court?
Click to expand...

based on your post he sounds like a cowboy to me - take no prisoners - get your facts & timelines straight & make your solicitor work hard.
 
The completion notice was issued by the developer directly. the assurances you mentioned above were not documented.

The items on the snag were minimal and they have since been completed.

Since posting the article, I have spoken to another solicitor and a barrister to get some impartial advice.

They both indicated that our claim that the apartment was not complete when the completion notice was issued is shaky and if it ended up in court, both thought we would lose.

In saying that, they thought I should stand my ground and wait to see what their response is when our solicitor writes to them saying that we are not going to negotiate the price and are sticking to our stance that the completion notice was issued early.

They said that the letter from the developer is the first serious threat and they have to appear very heavy handed. They said the developer might come back to try again for a deal. They said the developer is entitled to take us to court but that if it went to court would take approx 18 months. In that time frame, he might well have gone bust or may decide it is not worth going to court as we have no assets and or money for him to sue us for.

They said there is no black or white answer and there are lots of these threatening letters being sent but none getting to court yet and in most cases some settlement is made.

What are your thoughts on the chances of this actually ending up in court or any other advice?

Just another couple of points to make. The development in question is 6 blocks but the last block is not being finished. The developer has another development in the city where they slashed the price by 30% on 1,2 and 3 bed apartments.

Thanks
 
I'm not in a position to comment on the legals here, but I think you would perhaps be wise to request written assurances [i.e. Architects Opinions] stating that the apartment and the building in which it is situate are in compliance with planning permission and the building regulations.

Barristers and Solicitors are good enough on their own ground, but the completion or otherwise rests largely on the paperwork.
Has a competent professional signed off on the building yet?
If not - why not?

You should consider asking for sight of the Fire Safety Consultants certificate stating the building has been tested and is in compliance with its Fire Cert.

You should consider asking for sight of the Safety File for the building.

You should consider asking for the Building Energy Rating certificate for your apartment.

I'm not sure how these last two affect individual apartment owners and you might ring up the HSA and SEI IO think about them.

Don't get caught out by replying late to their notice to complete, but their threat that "the developer will sue us for the difference in price between purchase price and whatever they can get" seems over the top.

Let's know how it goes.

FWIW

ONQ
 
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