Yet more house purchase problems !

[Vivijones]

Hi

Weve just had a message from our agent (who appears to be working on Good Friday!) that they received notice from the notaires the acte de vende on our property, due in a couple of weeks, has been cancelled as they have discovered that various members of the vendors family also have an interest in the property. Now nether the agent or us are sure at the moment whether this means cancelled permanently or it is just a case of getting more signatures.

Two questions spring to mind, firstly why has it taken till now to find this out, Its almost six months since we signed the compromis and three months after the acte was due to be signed (been waiting for the CDU) Surely the notaries should have checked this point before now? Secondly if the sale falls through now, do we get double the deposit as if the vendor had pulled out or is the compromis null and void as the seller was selling something they did not own?

Im beginning to think we are fated; this is the third French property which has gone pear shaped on us, maybe its just our knack of picking them!

Vivi

[Iceni]

Sorry to read yr news. GF is not a holiday in France so your agent should be working.

Suggest that you get the agent to speak to the notaire on Tuesday to try to start the compensation process asap. Cannot comment on the legal issues of vendor trying to sell something that he does not own but it is possibly a criminal offence (UK equivalent is something like pecuniarty advantage by deception I think) but this may or may not help your case.

There still seem to be plenty of properties for sale so good luck with yoour search if it has to come to that.

John and Di

http://www.iceni-it.co.uk

[Zippy]

Regretfully for you, I would think about pulling out of the whole deal, deposit in tact and look for something more simple. The alternative is months and months of rangle, argument stress and upset. There's plenty of other properties out there.

[Mikew]

Reminds me of a friend of mine who was buying from an elderly French person going into care. Everything was proceeding normally until the person unfortunately died, luckily the family still wanted to proceed but everything then multiplied by five, lengthening the timescale, delaying the completion date. All was well after all.
Nobody seems to tell all in the moving 'game', Selling here in UK, my buyers chain seemed short and all was going well, until it transpired that the first time buyer at the end of the chain was dependant for his deposit upon the sale of parents house in another chain.....

Mike

[Jirac18]

When an agent takes on a property and has the vendor sign a mandat de vente he must include with in it the details of persons who have a legal right to any portion of the property to be sold. If he does not then effectivley the property should not be marketed. Any agent knows well enough or should do that this is the case. It certainly should not take as long as in your case to become known. There can be one signatory on behalf of any number of siblings selling a property which has been inherited but the agent must ask and write down on the mandat the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all concerned as vendors. He should then speak with each to make sure that they are aware that the property is to be sold. If they do not agree or this does not take place the mandat should not be processed. I would contest that if the mandat is lacking the relevant detail it is worthless.

[Tonyf]

Sorry to hear of your problems, particularly if this is the third time.

Perhaps it's now time to think of going through one of the hand holding agencies or the much villified VEF or their equivilent. You may save yourself further disappointment.

I know they cost money but, if you add up the wasted money you have spent on ferries, hotels etc, it might be the better course.

I can't believe I typed that! However, sometimes for the sake of a couple of grand, perhaps peace of mind is the better option.

Good luck for your future search.

[Clare_G]

Theoretically the agent should have studied the seller's deed of sale before accepting the mandate for the property. In reality a lot of sellers are unable to produce the deed immediately (it may still be filed with the notary that handled the previous sale) and it sometimes takes a while to produce, but certainly the contract for sale should not have been signed if the sellers had not produced the deed.

It looks like both the agent and the notary are at fault here. In any case, it would seem that the agent's mandate is worthless. I would hope that by now your agent has discovered the real situation re the wishes of the other sellers. If they are in favour of the sale, you may want to hang on even longer to get the property of your dreams. Otherwise, you should be able to negotiate something with your agent, bearing in mind that the agency is at fault, but that it would be better for all concerned to avoid litigation...

Good luck!