Blatant Mis-Advertising of House!

[Marge]

Hi there,

Really need advise on this.

We recently went sale agreed on a city townhouse in Cork. We were very excited with the house as had been hunting for sometime and it was to be our first purchase. The house needed some TLC and we were very aware and prepared for that.

The house was (and still is) advertised as a 3 Bedroom Victorian townhouse and is beside Patrick’s hill. There is a garden to the front and the property does not extend to a back garden. There is a steep drop at the back, not unusual as the property is on a hill.

We viewed the house on several occasions and access to view the back of the house was impossible. But we could see out the window that it looked onto the rear of properties on a lower road. From this lower road, you could not see our house!

Our engineer surveyed the house and we were shocked and horrified to discover that the house we were buying had no foundations!! In fact, it was in reality the top 2 floors of a 4 floor building. The bottom 2 floors could only be noticed/seen/accessed from a back yard of a property on the lower road and is currently dis-used. We understand these lower floors may have been used as a warehouse in the past.


Our question are - the property is advertised as a house - what defines a house?
Has anyone come across this situation before? - our engineer certainly had not.

Initially the auctioneer was "shocked" when we told him what the engineer had discovered. However, he subsequently maintains that he had told us or at least some of the viewers of the property!!

We would never have touched the property had been know the reality of the situation. Also, according to our insurance company, getting cover would have been an issue.

Can an auctioneer do this? Surely, there must be some obligation to advertise the property properly?

We were lucky as are able to get out in time. Someone else may not be so lucky.
Any suggestions??

Best regards,

Marge

 

[mo3art]

Re: Blatant Mis-Advertising of House!!

Wow is all I can say.

It appears, going on your information, that the estate agent neglected to inform you of the nature of the actual house. I'm sure there is no mention of this description in the brochure?

Firstly, all estate agents have a caveat on their brochures which basically indemnify them against any mis-measurements or something that may come to light at a later stage. However since the judgement against a large commercial estate agent in relation to the sale of an office building in Dublin City Centre, it might be the case that the estate agent's caveat wouldn't be strong enough to hold.

The obligation is on the estate agent to advertise the property as is, and not to withhold valuable information which will impact on the value or nature of the property as I understand it.

So you have a couple of options here - (1) Contact the ASAI (advertising standards authority) as the property is being mis-advertised. (2) Contact the regulatory body that the Estate Agent is a member of - IAVI/IPAV to make a complaint. (3) Check out your options with regards to taking a civil case for the costs of your engineer and various other costs associated with going sale agreed on the property against the Estate Agent.

Personally speaking, if the failure was this blatant and bearing in mind that the Estate Agent has acknowledged that they had prior information relating to the property, I would do all 3.

Sorry to hear it went so horribly wrong for you.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Re: Blatant Mis-Advertising of House!!

Marge

You are very lucky to get out. In the current market, I have heard of people buying a house without a survey.

I don't think it matters what the auctioneers says to you. If the brochure says it is a three bedroom house and it is something very different, they have a case to answer.

I would probably get a friend, or better still, a journalist, to view the house as a mystery shopper. And see if they are told the same story.

I have objected to inaccuracies in auctioneer's brochures before, but much less minor inaccuracies.

Brendan

 

[Marge]

Re: Blatant Mis-Advertising of House!!

Thanks so much for your replies.

It’s such a relief to know that we were being over-dramatic about what had happened.

The suggestions are great.

Regarding the property brochure, we never actually got one but the spec & pictures are on the Auctioneers website. I am guessing that posting the link to this isn't appropriate on this forum, but I can share the following details on what it does say:

"This is a 3 Bedroom Victorian townhouse. It is secluded from the street and accessed through a door set in a surrounding boundary wall."
"Auctioneer’s Opinion:
The property appears to be in good structural condition and has been well maintained. However, it does require modernisation, although in its present condition, would lend itself exceptionally well as an investment property. Due to its location and the fact that it is tucked away and absolutely secluded from the street, it would make a fabulous home for those discerning purchasers who want to take on a D.I.Y. project. Viewing comes highly recommended!"

Having quickly scanned their website, membership of IAVI/IPAV is not obvious but we will look into for sure.

The property is a 400 year lease rather than freehold, which we also found out after we had gone sale agreed. (This is not mentioned anywhere, but fair enough we should have asked!). Our solicitor has not received the contracts, but did allude to the possibility that the reality of the building structure may not have been obvious from this, so we could have proceeded and purchased had our engineer not been so thorough.
This seems amazing - any comments on this?

Thanks again.

Marge