Conveyancing - furniture being included in sale of house?

oceallachain

I'd firstly like to point out that I'm not looking for legal advice here. I have a solicitor who dealt with the conveyancing of a house sale. Nothing said on this forum will be construed as legal advice by me. I'm just wondering if people had had similar experiences.

About a year ago I was looking to purchase a home. I found one I liked and through, the estate agent, the vendors and I settled on a price. There was many legal setbacks in the conveyancing which have been sorted by our solicitors but there is no point in going into them now.

I did move into the house about five months ago prior to the house sale finalisling with the agreement that I would pay no rent but that I would purchase the house obviously. The couple I bought the house from had divorced and I had been primarily dealing with the lady. However, it was when I moved in that I started dealing with the male (because he had been living in the house prior to me, she had not). It was at this stage that he informed me that all the furniture in the house was included in the sale.

When told of this I was delighted obviously and I checked the websites (house was on sale on three different auctioneers sites) and found that he was right. The furniture had been listed as being included in the sale of the house by one of the auctioneers. However, not by the auctioneers i dealt with.

Finally the sale was completed about a month ago. It was a very drawn out process for all. Yesterday the lady text me and said I owed some third party guy money for the furniture as it was his. Now he works with her and so I knew hm because of this but I never knew it was his furniture?

In the contract for sale under Is furniture included in the sale the yes box is ticked and in the comments box it states floor covering and light fittings. It doesn't say only them so perhaps its ambiguous.

Has anybody had similar experiences. It seems wrong and unfair. Surely nobody can walk into your house and demand furniture? Again, no replies will be construed as legal advice. Thanks in advance guys.

kmick

If the contract says carpet and curtains then its not included.

There is money owed on this furniture so if it were me I would get the guys number and ring him and make him a derisory offer for it. Second hand furniture is worth exactly nothing so if you offer him 300 quid for it you will probably secure it. Be very careful if you do this to make sure all the paperwork is in place. You will have to be anal about the paperwork. Get your solicitor to do it so he can check all the outstanding monies and you wont be hit with a bill down the line.

If the guy says he wants more tell him that you cant pay any more because of the recesssion and his furniture will be out on the street in an hours time for collection. Mention it is raining heavily then hang up and wait for the call back.

dats_right

Talk to your solicitor for specific advice, but General Condition 46 of the Law Society General Conditions of Sale state that:

"Unless otherwise disclosed to the Purchaser prior to the sale the Vendor warrants that, at the actual completion of the sale, all the Purchased Chattels shall be his unencumbered property and that same shall not be subject to any lease, rental hire, hire-purchase or credit sale agreement or chattel mortgage".

This means that you cannot be liable for third party debts regarding chattels (i.e. personal belongings), unless the debts were specifically disclosed to you prior to the sale. The vendor remains so liable to discharge any such debts. Unless, there was a special condition to the contrary, which would be most unusual.

nuac

Agree with Dats Right.

Even if you thought the third party owned the furnirue, I disagree with Knick's advice to put it out on the street.

May be prosecuted under the Litter Act.

May be liable to the third party for damage sustained ( if s/he is the owner )

May be liable to someone who may trip over it etc

Making a bad impression with your new neighbours

kmick

nuac wrote: »

Agree with Dats Right.

Even if you thought the third party owned the furnirue, I disagree with Knick's advice to put it out on the street.

May be prosecuted under the Litter Act.

May be liable to the third party for damage sustained ( if s/he is the owner )

May be liable to someone who may trip over it etc

Making a bad impression with your new neighbours

He deos not need to actually put it out there. The threat should be enough.