Q. I have just completed on a house and am devastated to find that the Vendor has taken all the white goods from the kitchen. When I was viewing the Agent said these would all be included in the sale?! Where do I stand, is there anything I can actually do now that I have already completed?
A. Whenever you are buying a property it’s always best to get everything in writing that way there can never be any doubt over what is included in the purchase and what is not. This would normally be recorded on either the fixtures and fittings list completed by the seller or more commonly on the agent’s sales memorandum that they send out to all four parties including the buyer their respective lawyer, the seller and their lawyer at the onset of the sale being agreed. If those items were included on either of those documents then the Vendor absolutely has to return the items without delay. However, if these items were just merely mentioned in conversation during the viewing and the seller never intended to leave them then I’m afraid you will not be able to recover them or go back to the agent and ague otherwise. If however the Agent wrongly included them on the written details of the property or brochure when the seller never had any intention of leaving them behind then the agent has clearly violated the Property Misdescriptions act. The Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (PMA) makes it a criminal offence to make a misleading statement about various items relating to land and buildings offered for sale in the course of an estate agency business. The items are set out in full in a supplementary Order, and include not only the description of the physical property itself, but also statements relating to the title, the length and details of any lease, and other legal matters such as rights of way. The PMA is enforced by trading standards officers, who have powers to require the production of books, documents or hard copy of information held on computers and other enforcement powers. My best advice is always get everything in writing to prevent problems later on, it may seem trivial at the time but later on it can cause huge issues such as the one you are currently having to deal with. Your solicitor is always on hand throughout the transaction to clarify any grey areas and ensure that everything you are expecting to find is there as long as you notify them of any extra items included in the purchase at t
Q. I have just completed on a house and am devastated to find that the Vendor has taken all the white goods from the kitchen. When I was viewing the Agent said these would all be included in the sale?! Where do I stand, is there anything I can actually do now that I have already completed?A. Whenever you are buying a property it’s always best to get everything in writing that way there can never be any doubt over what is included in the purchase and what is not. This would normally be recorded on either the fixtures and fittings list completed by the seller or more commonly on the agent’s sales memorandum that they send out to all four parties including the buyer their respective lawyer, the seller and their lawyer at the onset of the sale being agreed. If those items were included on either of those documents then the Vendor absolutely has to return the items without delay. However, if these items were just merely mentioned in conversation during the viewing and the seller never intended to leave them then I’m afraid you will not be able to recover them or go back to the agent and ague otherwise. If however the Agent wrongly included them on the written details of the property or brochure when the seller never had any intention of leaving them behind then the agent has clearly violated the Property Misdescriptions act. The Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 (PMA) makes it a criminal offence to make a misleading statement about various items relating to land and buildings offered for sale in the course of an estate agency business. The items are set out in full in a supplementary Order, and include not only the description of the physical property itself, but also statements relating to the title, the length and details of any lease, and other legal matters such as rights of way. The PMA is enforced by trading standards officers, who have powers to require the production of books, documents or hard copy of information held on computers and other enforcement powers. My best advice is always get everything in writing to prevent problems later on, it may seem trivial at the time but later on it can cause huge issues such as the one you are currently having to deal with. Your solicitor is always on hand throughout the transaction to clarify any grey areas and ensure that everything you are expecting to find is there as long as you notify them of any extra items included in the purchase at the beginning of the transaction.