Bank Drafts

Hey there. We are in the process of buying a house and have agreed with the vendor to buy some of the contents. Closing was due to take place on 31st Oct however it didn't happen so we have put in a completion order of 28 days to the vendor. If it goes past this we will have to pull out as we have nowhere to live over the Christmas period and we would need to start renting again. The agreement to buy the contents is purely between ourselves and we haven't invloved our solicitors as to do so would mean adding these contents to the contract which we would then have to pay stamp duty on.
The vendor contacted me to advise me that he wanted a bank draft and that he wanted it prior to closing, as if he waited for us to give it to him on the closing date we might say that there was never any agreement and at that stage we would own the house and its contents.
I have agreed to organise the bank draft and to send him a copy of it and give him the original upon closing however my worry now is once issued, can it be cancelled if we end up pulling out. Can anyone advise me on this?

If you are asking under what conditions you can cancel or seek to reverse payment for a draft, ask your bank manager.

I am not legally qualified, but I think your solicitor would advise you not to exchange drafts in this way, as it gives you little or no protection should the vendor decide not go go ahead (they have already delayed closing so their pulling out is not completely unlikely.). Your solicitor would also advise you that what you propose is tax evasion.

Does the contract exclude contents? That suggests the vendor may own the contents even after closing, so the vendor is protected (or at least, more protected than you would be if you gave them a bank draft a few days before intended closing). I would call their bluff on this.

A bank draft can only be cancelled if lost or stolen.

If you haven't handed over a draft however, it can be lodged back into your a/c if not used.
Eg: people get drafts when going to house auctions & if they are outbid or whatever they can go & relodge the draft to their own a/c.

I have agreed to organise the bank draft and to send him a copy of it and give him the original upon closing however my worry now is once issued, can it be cancelled if we end up pulling out.

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Sorry, I missed this crucial sentence originally. If you retain the draft and have not given it to the vendor, you can return it to your branch and get your money back. Is that what you were asking?

There is still a small risk even if you exchange it on the day, as no legal contract exists for the contents. There is (a perhaps larger) risk that Revenue will in future decide to audit property sold at or near stamp duty thresholds to identify such "under the counter" tax evasion.

I assume that little or no actual contents are going to change hands or else there would be no real issue here - i.e. if you don't pay you don't get the contents, which could be temporarily moved out of the house if the vendor doesn't trust you.

Tell him to take your word for it that the purchase will go through as arranged.