Chain Sale, last seller now won't budge..

[DeeKie]

I’m not convinced that the letter is binding. Tell your solicitor that you want them to set out the legal status of the letter in an email. Tell them you are considering getting a second legal opinion.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I would be speaking to another solicitor for an opinion on the whole process.

You are going to be in this for a long time and it might be time to move solicitor if your solicitor has been negligent.

Brendan

 

[vincentgav]

Contracts may not have exchanged as yet between A and B as party B may need to use the equity in their house sale to use as a deposit. Do you have this information as yet?

No, my solicitor is saying 'they haven't called me back'. So I don't know! He does need the equity from my purchase to close with A, but he's here with a massive wad of cash in his pocket, I'm on my knees begging with mortgage and savings and he's saying he doesn't want to do it cos it's not going as smoothly as he thought.

What are the sellers proposing to do now (party B)? ARe they requesting that closing date move to January? For what reason do you believe party A will pull out?

He's trying to say he doesn't want to buy from A anymore, and that he's entitled to walk away now. So it appears my contract is worthless to me, it just allows him to drag us along into perpetuity.

I'd recommend making an appointment with your own solicitor, armed with questions to see exactly where you stand legally. Is that letter binding? If so why was it not brought to your attention? Was there some lack of preparedness here as solicitors know each other ?

Yes, that's it, I need to make this out to them in writing. I wasn't made aware until yesterday, they made a mistake.

There will be issues particularly in a chain, and it is incredibly difficult to get sale/purchase through on the same day, however it can be done.

We'll see.

 

[Páid]

We're bound to B, he can't really walk away from us. We can walk away, but what can we do if A won't budge?

I can’t, if it’s the case that I’m bound to B..

I wasn't sure what you meant by "We can walk away" above. You obviously mean you and B could walk away from A.

Can you walk away when the 28 day notice expires? If A (and consequently B) never closes, at what point can you walk away?

It's a terrible situation to be in, I'm hoping it works out for you. You don't need this hassle over Christmas.

 

[vincentgav]

Latest: contracts are exchanged on both my purchase from B and his from A. They're suggesting a delayed closing date, but the catch is that I can't have that delayed date, my mortgage approval will run out. I need to close now ASAP.

I've spoken to the sales agent, he asked B to consider closing early, to keep me in the loop, as he needs my money to close with A. B is a cash purchaser, he's not under pressure but I am. The agent even asked if he'd consider a caretaker's agreement, but I'm wary of that. As far as I'm concerned, I need to close ASAP, it's not a case of 'Vincent won't', it's that 'Vincent CAN'T'.

The agent says that B kept asking; 'What if A sale doesn't go through?' I told the agent that at some stage this person needs to stand on their own two feet and that I can't baby them to their new house. If it falls through, he's got €500k cash in his pocket, any number of agents and sellers would be delighted to talk to him, he can get a new house quickly.

I've asked the agent to remind him that the easiest option is just to move into a short term let for the few weeks, B has not offered one single concession or flexed at all, and I'm being asked to entertain a caretaker agreement, which the lender doesn't even allow.. It'd have to be on the QT if it was done at all..

I'm up against it, I'm limited but B isn't. Ideally, I'd say for him to close the sale, as I'm under pressure. Go and get a temporary rental with your €500k and wait for your closing.

But here we are..

 

[skrooge]

For your own peace of mind should you start the process of updating your mortgage approval. No point having that stress hanging over you unnecessarily.

Assuming your finances haven't changed this should just be a procedural issue.

 

[Seagull]

If the letter forms part of the contract, then your solicitor was very remiss in not bringing it to your attention.

 

[dubdub123]

Do you have a clause in the contract stating subject to drawdown (for your own purchase)? You want to ensure you are covered in case things drag out and something changes on your side.
Start looking to get the approval renewed... There may be a cost for valuations etc as there's a time limit on those, but maybe see what you can move ahead without any expenditure .

The behaviour of B sounds really bizarre .. they have a signed exchanged contract so A is clearly going to sell or will be sent a 28 day notice. Is there any possibility that B wants you to walk away from the purchase and go back to market?

To be honest, if I was you I'd stop communicating with the agent. The agent may mean well but better to put everything through your solicitor at this point.

You need to get clarification regarding what was in the letter (and if it's binding). The fact that B has exchanged contracts now - shouldn't that meet the requirements of the letter? If the letter means that B will have made a purchase first, how will that ever be achieved as they need equity from the sale.

Get a copy of your contract and this letter and make an appointment with your solicitor. And start working on getting mortgage approval extended.

 

[Clamball]

Gosh Vincent, what a horrible position to be in. Just keep telling the agent and your solicitor that you are not in a position to delay the sale, the contracts are signed, you need to execute the sale. It is so horrible that they are all asking you to delay when you are in position where it is not possible for you to delay. Keep telling them that what happens between A & B is nothing to do with you now that the contracts are signed. Has your solicitor issued the 28 days notice letter?

Best of luck

 

[vincentgav]

The latest is that we've drawn down and now they're at it again and I'm feeling like I'm going to faint with the stress.

My solicitor keeps insisting that this side letter is absolutely air tight. So it seems I have no contract whatsoever and I'm bound to the vendor with everything in his favour.

We've begged our middle vendor to close with us (which he needs to so before he can buy anything else) but he's refused at every turn. He said 'nobody trusts anybody'. So he's refusing to move an inch after all the flexing that we did.

I feel depressed and hopeless now. Mortgage drawn down. Solicitors won't speak to me or answer the phone. Vendor won't move even temporarily, for a few hundred thousand cash...

How can I have no rights? How can a side letter completely invalidate my rights as per the contract? How is this legal?

 

[DeeKie]

Talk to a new solicitor, preferably not in the town you live in.