Contents left in house after buying it empty

J

JAR

Guest
I recently brought a house which was meant to be sold with curtains and carpets only - I inspected the property before completion and while there were one or two items of furniture left I was happy to close. However when I finally moved in I realised the attic was full of junk - matresses, chairs, tables, boxes etc. The trouble is the previous owner now resides in Dubai!! Can anyone tell me if I have any rights with regard to getting a skip paid for to remove all the furniture and if so can I revert to the Estate Agent (who was meant to be looking after removal of the furniture in the owners absence) or the Solicitor? Thanks! JAR
 
Your first port of call should be your solicitor as you should have got 'vacant possession' of the house. He should deal with the seller and sort it out. I'd say the seller could be willing to pay for a skip anyway.
 
I'd say the seller has "skipped" and that there is little or no chance of getting anything although its worth asking.

In fairness to the solicitor, JAR did a pre-closing inspection and presumably told his solicitor that the house was clear and it was fine to release the funds. The fact that JAR then found out that the attic was full of junk is not the solicitors fault. The solicitor can only go through the process of notifying the solicitor and EA and asking them to deal with the situation.

And that is extra work. Should he be paid for that?

mf
 
The solicitor can only go through the process of notifying the solicitor and EA and asking them to deal with the situation.
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Sorry that's what I meant. Just as a matter of interest though if the buyer were to persue the matter and the seller was indeed within the country, could he expect a successful case or would the fact that the buyer signed and was happy stand. Probably not a black and white answer I guess but I'll ask anyway.
 
In reality, its probably not worth pursuing even if the seller is in the country. The cost of a skip will be a lot less than a District Court case or a Small Claims case. I have a simple enough rule of thumb that if someone behaves badly and does not deal with an issue like this in jig-time, when its raised, that it will not be financially worth while to pursue it.

I've said any number of times on this board that the whole process is very dependent on good will. I personally would never leave unwanted rubbish behind me in a house I was selling, I would always do a pre closing inspection in a house I was buying, and nothing that a vendor or a purchaser does surprises me any more.

mf
 
JAR said:
I recently brought a house which was meant to be sold with curtains and carpets only - I inspected the property before completion and while there were one or two items of furniture left I was happy to close. However when I finally moved in I realised the attic was full of junk - matresses, chairs, tables, boxes etc.
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Had you inspected the attic at the time or only after purchase?
 
In fairness whos going to be inspecting the attic when taken around by an auctioneer. I know buyer beware and all that!
 
Er - it's a pretty basic thing to inspect the attic when buying a new or second hand house and to have your surveyor do the same where applicable!
 
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