Buyer signed contract but now has pulled out

S

Snork Maiden

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Hi All:

Recently went Sale Agreed on my house. The contracts were signed by the buyer and a copy was faxed to my solicitor by their solicitor with a copy of the deposit cheque.

The contracts were never returned to my solicitor and now they are pulling out of the sale.

Where do I stand?
Can I insist on the cheque for the deposit?
Are they legally bound to the contract considering only they have signed it not us?
(obviously
have asked my sol but would welcome advise and experience of AAMers!)

Many thanks.
 
Hi Clubman,

Thanks for your response. As I stated I have asked my solicitor and am receiving advise from her, however, from reading threads here on AAM it often appears that solicitors have conflicting advise..........

Any opinions/advise/anecdotes etc gratefully received.
 
This happened to us recently - both parties signed agreements etc. then buyer could not secure a mortgage, Our solicitor advised us to return the deposit, which we did
 
Happened to us also! Solicior is the only one who will be able to advise you properly. Doubt you'll be able to hold on to the deposit as the contracts are in their possesion.
 
Hi Dave28 & Purplealien,

Not overly worried about the deposit cheq. Would be nice as we now will probably have to sell our house for less than we went sale agreed on. But I am sure that the buyers probably need it too.

I am not trying to legally force the couple into buying my house either.......I know that peoples circumstances change and thats life!!!

Just wondering what generally happens in this situation and does the fact that they signed the contract and we have a faxed copy of it mean anything??? Dont want to get stung again.
 
Snork Maiden said:
from reading threads here on AAM it often appears that solicitors have conflicting advise..........
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Your solicitor works on your behalf to advise you on relevant legal matters. Why do you think that their advice might be "conflicting" (whatever you mean by that)?
 
numlock said:
Just wondering what generally happens in this situation and does the fact that they signed the contract and we have a faxed copy of it mean anything??? Dont want to get stung again.
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Should think you have some sort of case if you have a signed copy of the contract even if it is only a fax.But that's only my own thoughts on it - solicitor will definately be a ble to give you a definate yes or no.
 
And you are right to ask, just because you have a solicitor doesn't mean you get any answers. Just as in any profession, there are those who are good at it, those who are mediocre and those who are just crap.

I wish I had an answer for you, I don't, but at the very minimum, you have received a faxed confirmation of their signing. This means their solicitor has given an undertaking on the contract and is just as as "liable" as they are for it going through, regardless of what their client does.(And anyone who is a solicitor here, can argue the point with me??). A solicitor is required to honour the terms of a professional undertaking as a matter of conduct.

There are certain clients a solicitor doesn't want because they lead them into a position of unprofessional conduct. This is not a legally binding contract on your side though,it's just a point against their solicitor. How long has this contract being in existence is an important question?
 
ClubMan said:
Why do you think that their advice might be "conflicting" (whatever you mean by that)?
Click to expand...

I never said that my solicitor gave me conflicting advice. I said (or tried to say...) that often an AAM contributor posts advice that they receive from their solicitor and other AAM contributors refute or disagree with that advice.

For the record, I am perfectly happy with the legal advice I am receiving and am not trying to substitute it, just learn from the experiences of others

Conflicting
 
Hi Panathon,

Thanks for you reply and your interesting points regarding their solicitors undertaking.....

They have the contracts since around the 10/11th of sept. Fax was received last friday. Originals and cheq were due to be posted to our solicitor friday/monday but when they didnt arrive today our solicitor contacted their solicitor who told her that they are no longer in a position to purchase our house and at 5.30 today our solicitor rang my other half to tell him the bad news. So this is pretty fresh.
 
In general, the rule is that until the contracts are signed by both parties, exchanged and a full deposit paid, there is no binding contract in existence. Thats the rule in broad sweeping terms. There may be situations where because of steps taken by either party that a Court would find that a binding Contract did exist but you generally find that the subtleties need to be examined in minute detail to come to any real conclusion.

In real and practical terms, the proposed purchasers cannot complete - there is very little point in taking it further.

"This means their solicitor has given an undertaking on the contract and is just as as "liable" as they are for it going through, regardless of what their client does.(And anyone who is a solicitor here, can argue the point with me??). "

Happy to do so - you have no basis for saying this. I think it highly unlikely that a solicitor has given an undertaking here and even more unlikely that a Court would enforce a letter written on behalf of a client by a solicitor against that solicitor.


A solicitor is required to honour the terms of a professional undertaking as a matter of conduct.

Can't argue with that.

mf
 
Thanks dat_right & MF1 for your comprehensive responses.

This was exactly what I was looking for.......

many thanks,
Snork
 
In broad sweeping terms yes, until contracts are exchanged there is no contract, but they have sent you a faxed copy of signatures indicating full intent to pursue contract. What is your loss on this?, have you taken your house off the market on the basis of those faxed copies? If you take the law as it stands then forget it, but you can plead your case on other grounds and I am sorry to say you do have a case. It is probably not worthwhile to pursue a buyer who can't purchase (that's why I asked about time involved) but if you have suffered loss on the market then it's a grey area. And sorry the purchasers solicitor did not make an undertaking to any court but did to their own society, which was my point, if you as a solicitor are faxing through signed copies of a contract, I fail to see how this is just fobbed off in any situation. Feel free to explain it to me..
 
If the contracts are signed and the deposit is paid, is that then a fully enforcable contract?

What happens if house prices fall dramatically and the buyer is willing to "loose" their deposit and "walk away" from the deal, can the sell force completion?
 
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