Claiming from seller after closing

You won't get anything for a hypothetical "the place could have caught fire, but it didn't…", but you could certainly pursue them for the cost of repairing the damage they caused, and possibly also for the cost of replacing those items which were fixtures or fittings like the ceiling lights (though probably not the TV), which generally should have been included in the sale unless your contract specifically said otherwise.

I've never understood why people do this. A friend of mine was viewing a house where the owners had taken out the alarm system and also removed some decking to take to their new house

The house they were selling looked awful as a result, wasn't even what you'd call a surgical removal with bits of the alarm left everywhere

They probably saved €1-2k on their new house and cost themselves €5k on their old one. Some top notch economics there

I get that people generally don't have a lot of free cash to spare after moving but this just makes no sense to me

Anyway OP, sounds like your seller was a bit smarter and waited until the ink was dry before raiding the copper

You should definitely speak to your solicitor, however I think they typically pay extra for a same day bank transfer so the money might be gone. They might be able to put some sort of hold on it

Also, I should probably ask the tricky question, but are you sure it was the seller who took out the wiring? If the house was vacant for a while then someone could have broken in to rob the wiring

My guess is that it was the seller given the timing, but it might be worth straight up asking them or the agent about it

I also have heard of this carry-on 3 or 4 times. The only conclusion I reach is that the seller is 'pi$$ing on the property' out of badness, for whatever reason.

It happened me, once, in the 1990s when half the kitchen units were pulled out.

Next house I purchased I insisted on inspecting the house on the morning of closing.

Best wishes OP, put it behind you, maybe your solicitor can recover some money but it won't be much.

He clearly said it was the seller no tenants involved.

He said "Definitely the seller. Estate agent was a bit annoyed during the walkthrough that they hadn’t finished moving out. Walkthrough was at 5PM and we got the keys the following morning."

Seller moving out - no tenant.

If you are going to fake a pretence to be clever, try learning to read first.

Ring and talk to your solicitor, don't rely on email.

Bang on, this is exactly why I mentioned tenants. Some of them treat the place like a personal grudge match the minute they’re told to leave. It’s not about what they take — it’s about how much hassle they can cause on the way out.

The OP’s story has that exact stink off it: wires ripped out, walls damaged, no effort to clean up. That’s not a seller moving house — that’s someone pissed off and making a statement. And anyone who’s dealt with a bad tenant knows that pattern all too well.

Could also go to the garda about destruction of your property.

do you really believe they’d have. A case? The OP only owned the house from the time that the money landed in the vendors account.

I agree, its more likely tenants that did this because they had to leave. Normally reasonable people just pack up and clear out and get another house share. These are not reasonable times. Its near impossible for people renting to buy and its driving people craxy

What has your solicitor said?

At what point can you stick your own security company in there to protect the place?

You're asking for trouble by doing a final walk through before the owners have moved out.

Let them move out, then do the final walk around the next day. If you're happy phone your solicitor and get the funds released right there. You should get the keys fairly fast after that.

That said taking radiators and light fittings off the wall is taking the piss. Talk to another solicitor and see if they can help you.