Builders Charging Interest

Rock786

Registered User
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17
Hi everybody,

Me and my partner exchanged contracts with builder for a 2bed apartment for Dublin 13 in November 2006. Late in 2007 my partner lost the job and the mortgage was cancelled. We then went to our solicitor and told him that we will not be able to go ahead as my partner has lost a job and the mortgage has cancelled.

The builders then issued a completion notice to us and they are now charging interest on the remaining amount as we cannot close. On the other hand we went to different banks, but now looking at the current market situation, no bank is giving 100% mortgage on 2 bed apartment...with one person in job.

At this stage we do not mind loosing the deposit...but our solicitor is saying that the builder will take us to court...

Does anybody has the same experience, any advice or suggestion in this regards is very welcome....

Please help us...

Thanks
 
Sounds like you signed a binding contract and the builders are within their rights to act in this way. You should be guided primarily by the advice that your own solicitor has given or can give you since s/he is has the most detailed insight into the matter. Unfortunately you took a risk in signing contracts without being certain that you could follow through and it didn't pay off...
 
Thanks for the reply clubman, if builders will take us to court and we do not have money....what will be the consequences we can face.....
 
Nobody can be sure what they will do. However a decent solicitor surely should know what they could do (legally)!!? :confused:
 
agreed, there is only so much they can do, especially if the OP doesn't own property.

It is early days, the solicitor should be trying to negotiate your way out of the contract on the basis that you lose your deposit and that is that. I'd be telling the builders solcitor that they will be a long time recovering form my impecunious clients...
 
Thanks stifster....we have already told this to our solicitor and he has already conveyed this to the builders solicitor but still they is no luck so far....
 
What do you mean? Mortgage protection life assurance (only relevant if a mortgage holder dies), mortgage repayment protection insurance (only relevant if the mortgage is taken out and repayments cannot be met - usually limited in terms of when and for how long it pays out) - neither of which seem relevant in this case since the mortgage was presumably never drawn down in the first place? Or do you mean something else such as insurance against losing mortgage approval and being caught in this situation (if such insurance exists)?
 
Thats what I meant sorry. I think its called income protection. Its probably not a useful comment, after the fact. But it something to consider if stretched for a mortgage.
 
Thanks aircobra19 for ur reply, we do not have any income protection, somebody told us that we might go to prison as the builders will sue us for specific performance.

Has anybody heard this sort of case before.....please help..if anybody can....
 
The problem is that a lot of people are trying to pull out of binding contracts because they see properties in the same estate/block being advertised for less. Some purchasers can afford to buy the properties they agreed to buy but prefer not to. Some purchasers cannot find the money to complete, as in, they cannot now get the funds by way of a mortgage.
Builders ( like them or loathe them) have binding contracts and they are entitled to enforce them. However, if it can be amply demonstrated to them the very real issues that really distressed purchasers are facing, they are less likely to seek to pursue the debt on the grounds that they will never recover the money spent on the case or the balance due on the property.

But don't forget that there are people out there, who have money, feel its a bad deal and who just want out of a binding contract. I can understand that they want out- but I don't understand why they think they should be allowed!

mf
 
ask your solicitor will the builder allow a sub-sale. if it's going on since 2006 then the house has probably gone up significantly in value.
for the subsale.the house is assigned to u and you need to find the buyer but u will never get to live in the house as it passes from the builder to u to the new owner in more or less one transaction..but i would get a better solicitor first
 
If you forfeit the deposit and the builder is still not happy and they want to sue you for the interest and any loss they may incur if they sell within the year, and if they issue court proceedings, and if they obtain judgment, and if you cannot satisy that judgement, and if they then seek to enforce the judgement by asking the District Court to set installment repayments, and if you fail to meet the installment order, they can then seek to have you sent to prison.

That is unlikely unless you bury your heads in the sand. If you are brought before the District Court for an installment order (a long way down the line in your case) the judge will set repayments according to your circumstances.

It woudl be worth publicising, in that case, how the builders milked the boom, and (to paraphrase Bertie) when it got bustier, still tried to screw people.
 
ask your solicitor will the builder allow a sub-sale. if it's going on since 2006 then the house has probably gone up significantly in value.

from today's indo.

ANY house price increases in 2006 were wiped out by the downturn in the market over the past 12 months, a new report claims.

And the value of some second-hand apartments in Dublin have plummeted by up to 17pc.
Despite this, the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI) last night insisted: "The worst is over."
 
thanks stifster for ur reply....so basically everything is out of our hands at this moment.....should we do something or just rely on mercy of builders?
 
I'm in exactly the same position, I too signed a contract for a 1 bed in Dublin 13. However I was very stupid and always thought that I could get out of the contract by just asking for my deposit back. When I instructed my solicitor to tell the builder I could not go ahead - I never had received mortgage approval for the amout of the apt. - and my job didn't do well this year with its product, so promotion & bonus I was expecting didn't happen - I too was told how serious this is. I am too praying on the mercy of the builder to release me from this contract. I have sent them a letter, with copies of letters from brokers stating the mortage I would get would be significantly less than they are looking for. I have been trying to see if any builder has taken anybody to court over this issue? I'm nearly sick - because there is absolutely no way I can afford this apt.
 
and what are the builders saying for you....are they going to take you to court or they are going to keep the deposit....
 
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