Sale Agreed on Negative Equity House and still no keys

MammaMurphy

Was just wondering if anyone has been in our position?

We sale agreed on a property that is in negative equity and we sale agreed the end of April 2013(booking deposit paid).
We then put our 10% down the start of June 2013, sign contracts and the paid the balance too the middle if June.

Vendors solicitor wanted to close the end of may but we couldn't and asked to close 2 weeks later which they said ok.

My solicitor drew down cheque 2 weeks ago and we are now paying a mortgage on a property we don't have keys too.

Vendors solicitor is so annoying, she won't give us a day to close now as she is still awaiting the vendors negative equity cheque(which I find very hard to believe is not organised yet), they have given us the run around since day one and we just want to know what the hold up is but we are not getting an answer from any1(inc my solicitor).

Vendors house is empty as he was renting it out but furniture is still in house even thou he said he was taking everything and not leaving anything!!

Any ideas will be helpful. Thank u

D3PO

you signed the contracts and managed to drawdown but don't have the keys??

That sounds wrong on so many levels. You solicitor has screwed up big time if that's the case.

Marcusm

Your solicitor should never have drawndown the mortgage without having confirmation of the completion date from the other solicitor and a confirmation that all conditions were fulfilled. I would contact your solicitor to ask when he will reimburse you for the cost of the funds drawndown and see what his response is.

beeno67

D3PO wrote: »

you signed the contracts and managed to drawdown but don't have the keys??

That sounds wrong on so many levels. You solicitor has screwed up big time if that's the case.

+1

So your solicitor has your money, on which you are paying interest, on which he/she is receiving interest.
Urgent call to solicitor with instructions to get finger out and to discuss compensation to you. If not the Intrest you are paying, at least the amount he/she is gaining.

MammaMurphy

They told us they drew down so that when the vendors solicitors give the call to close that we can get the keys ASAP!
So annoying that we are paying amp mortgage on a property we don't have keys for and the vendors furniture still in there and NO sign of him removing it.
Got onto EA twice and asked him to call him to remove the furniture and also had to ring the EA to get him to contact the vendor to ask him to get his solicitor to contact mine as they were not returning their calls.

My solicitors tells me that this is normal routine and to sit tight!

Marcusm

MammaMurphy wrote: »

They told us they drew down so that when the vendors solicitors give the call to close that we can get the keys ASAP!
So annoying that we are paying amp mortgage on a property we don't have keys for and the vendors furniture still in there and NO sign of him removing it.
Got onto EA twice and asked him to call him to remove the furniture and also had to ring the EA to get him to contact the vendor to ask him to get his solicitor to contact mine as they were not returning their calls.

My solicitors tells me that this is normal routine and to sit tight!

Your solicitor seems to find some dodgy practices to be routine; there is no reason to drawdown when he has not even agreed a completion date never mind been notified that all the conditions necessary for completion have been satisfied (often referred to as conditions precedent). The vendor might be experiencing difficulty with raising the additional funds to pay off the mortgage (what you refer to as the negative equity cheque). This is an idiotic costly practice, not normal routine.

MammaMurphy

Vendors solicitors wanted to close on 31st May, we then said 14th June, supposed to be then 21st June then we were told 24th June and we are still waiting!

House insurance kicked in, life policy kicked in and more importantly mortgage taken out today!

Don't no what to do anymore as we don't no who to believe!!!!

Stressed out with solicitor, vendor and EA!

wexie

MammaMurphy wrote: »

Vendors solicitors wanted to close on 31st May, we then said 14th June, supposed to be then 21st June then we were told 24th June and we are still waiting!

House insurance kicked in, life policy kicked in and more importantly mortgage taken out today!

Don't no what to do anymore as we don't no who to believe!!!!

Stressed out with solicitor, vendor and EA!

Marcusm wrote: »

.... The vendor might be experiencing difficulty with raising the additional funds to pay off the mortgage (what you refer to as the negative equity cheque)....

Wonder how the bank feels having furnished a mortgage on a property they, as of yet, have no rights to?

Could the bank be used to put some pressure on (both) the solicitors?

This sounds highly unorthodox, not to say shady.

3DataModem

wexie wrote: »

Wonder how the bank feels having furnished a mortgage on a property they, as of yet, have no rights to?

Could the bank be used to put some pressure on (both) the solicitors?

This sounds highly unorthodox, not to say shady.

OP, your solicitor seems to have screwed up big time here. Drawing down on a mortgage where the closing is not confirmed is very very unusual. He will have given the bank a letter of undertaking, which he is possibly in breach of.

I would ask the bank to freeze interest as the closure has not completed.

We did the same, took around 4 weeks from funds draw down to closing. We got the keys on agreement from the vendor whilst things got finalised (before completion). Not entirely by the book but fine and just tell your Solicitor to put pressure on the vendor to close this week or give a date for closing by Thursday close of business.

Remember that the other side can't close until their lender signs off on any decision on the residual amount they owe. The negotiation of this can take time, and you now need to put pressure for this to get completed.

Most important, ask for a date of closing, if refused - ask for a confirmed date within the next week. If they can't commit ask why - and if it is an issue with the bank ask specifically what is causing the problem. Just keep asking until sorted, and bring the estate agent back into things so you have two people to pursue.

D3PO

Deleted User wrote: »

We did the same, took around 4 weeks from funds draw down to closing. We got the keys on agreement from the vendor whilst things got finalised (before completion). Not entirely by the book but fine .

Fine if your the solicitor who has x hundred thousand euro belonging to the OP in their business account and god knows how many other clients money aswell earning them interest.

its beyond shady practice. Id be onto my solicitor in the morning and advising him I would be putting in a complaint to the law society about his practices.

killers1

OP, instruct your solicitor to find out the exact reason for the delay and when the vendors solicitor expects to be in a position to close. If it's going to drag on for a while longer you can instruct your solicitor to return the funds to the bank to be re-issued once a closing date has been confirmed. What your solicitor has done is not that unusual. Occasionally the vendors solicitor will indicate that everything is on track to close on a certain date and the purchasers solicitors draws down funds in advance of this date on the understanding that everything will run smoothly for that date. At the last minute there can be numerous reasons why the closing date gets pushed out. Your solicitor should have discussed with you at the time and taken your instruction as to whether to keep the funds or return them to the bank? I would imagine everybody thought the closing date was just being pushed out by a few days and returning and requesting the funds again from the bank might just add more unnecessary delays.

MammaMurphy

My solicitor is telling me that vendors solicitor is not answering her calls, so we went to EA today and he contacted vendor directly and he said he was closing this week!!

Dont no why my solicitor cant get this info!! Very frustrated now!! Sent her an email stating that i no this info and she will ring me about this 2moro wen she contacts vendors solicitor!!

Hope to get more info then