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House sale falling thru between exchange and completion?

Our buyer has had his mortgage cancelled & seems like he may not be able to complete on the specified date. I know a lot about our rights (contract interest rate if completion is delayed, 10 day notice to complete if we think he won't ever do it, entitled to 10% of purchase price if he doesn't ever complete).

I just wondered if anybody else had had this happen, and how some of the logistics work, Assuming buyer can't complete on specified date and still wants to buy, Would we get 2 hours to vacate the house if the buyer's soliciter suddenly gets the outstanding balance? We are moving in with friends, so thankfully don't have another sale riding on this one. Still, how do we decide when to give up on buyer and issue notice to complete? What if buyer doesn't have 10% of the purchase price (his deposit was much smaller) to pay us in penalties? I know the buyer can argue exceptional circumstances to avoid the penalties for failing the contract; is the Halifax cancelling the mortgage "exceptional"? And so on. Just like to hear what happened to anybody else, if this has happened. We're in England, btw.

We are planning to meet with soliciter end of next week (one week before completion is supposed to happen) to ask questions, but am trying to grasp it all, the sooner the better.

All complicated by the fact that we have done a private sale, & our own conveyancing. All that went fine until this weird, last twist, but it means we can't ask Estate Agent for advice. Will consult a soliciter & probably have to instruct him to handle the Transfer or Notice to Complete, now. Plus buyer lives 4 doors away; his kids play with mine and I really don't want bad feelings to arise out of this.

thanks! -Julii

Reply to
Equus grevyi
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In message , Richard Faulkner writes

Sadly, I have know it happen, but only a few times. The first was when Town & Country B/Soc almost went belly up, and they withdrew loads of offers. The second was when the lender discovered that the applicant had lied on the application form, to the extent that if the truth had been told he wouldnt have got the mortgage. The last time was when the applicant lost his job after the offer had been made and he owned up to the lender....

Most offers have a clause allowing the lender to withdraw the offer if circumstances change.

Quite right.

Reply to
john boyle

In message , Richard Faulkner writes

I agree. The CHANCE is that the mortgage offer was never there in the first place or they've just changed their minds!!!!!!!!

Reply to
john boyle

Thanks for replies.

We did see the buyer's mortgage offer, it all looked kosher. I believe that he got caught out on income, that he didn't declare an existing mortgage, that he falsified address, or pretended it was a residential mortgage when it was actually buy-to-let.

Apparently someone working in the local Halifax was helping people of a particular ethnic group lie on their mortgage application forms; he got found out. I heard of a seller who on Completion day, got a phone call from her soliciter saying "The sale is off; bank sent the purchase money over an hour ago but they are demanding it back, now".

Our current buyer even sent around his uncle to offer on the place yesterday. Current Buyer seems to have no grasp of the fact that we could sue him for 10% of the purchase price!

We've already had TWO intersted alternative buyers, even though we haven't advertised in any way (we're in the middle of a particularly popular ethnic area, and word just seems to spread around their community). If it means we can avoid going to court, I think we will try to get Current Buyer to settle for something like 2% of the buying price as our compensation and resell for more than he was going to pay us, anyway.

Currently we are hoping we don't have to move out after all; that's the big question.

Reply to
Equus grevyi

In article , Equus grevyi writes

Irrespective of what the Halifax representative was doing, this buyer has commited a fraud, on 4 counts at least, which looks like causing him to be in breach of one of the strongest contracts in existence.

Has he paid at least a 5% deposit via his solicitor?

If you dont go for your 10%, you will be giving a clear signal to him to tell his mates to try the same as there is little or nothing to lose.

I think you will find that he is fully aware of the penalty, but playing dumb, naieve, and neighbourly, often works. How thick skinned can he be to think you could possibly trust another member of his family.

His tactic is working - you are being too soft. Have you used an estate agent - if so, their fee is almost certainly due upon an exchange of contracts, and part of the 10% is often used to pay this.

Reply to
Richard Faulkner

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