Small Claims Court for property misrepresentation

[Jcwjosh]

( i am not asking for legal advice )


Quick Summary -

First time buyer - house advertised and confirmed by seller as being sold with 2 parking spaces...
Hard to tell on title deeds but asked the question quite a few times and got the response yes definately 2 parking spaces.

Moved in - 2 months later neighbour on the door your parked in my parking bay its not yours - Provides title deeds etc transpires it is her parking space - our house has just the one. I wouldnt have bought the property if i had known this, this was 3 years ago

I had a complaint with my conveyancer rejected same with legal ombudsman saying not solicitors fault, and the estate agent they all blame the seller, now i have finally traced her new address ( she has ignored a text and a letter passed to her by her previous conveyancer regarding the issues last year )

I want the cost of the parking space - estate agents value it between 5-7k..

I have a letter before action ready to send recorded signed for - then if nothing am willing to risk the small claims fee to issue a claim... What I am worried about is if this goes against me and i am left with a hefty bill.. im not sure the small claims sees many property misrepresentation claims as usually they exceed the amount ...

I am aprehensive but i understand how the system works. I have worked in debt collection for over 10 years but i have never been to court or had to do this before...

I will be honest and say i dont think i have the kind of money needed to seek hours of legal advice, a lot of what i know is through making the complaints gathering the infomration and researching myself.

Has anyone here been to the small claims court for what they beleive was an injustice and won ?

Would be good to hear some peoples experiences

[dibblecorse]

What proof do you have that she stated it had 2 spaces ? And surely your solicitor will have outlined the property particulars in your pre exchange report ??

Also your survey should have covered this.

If I were your vendor I'd be telling you to do one.

[Jcwjosh]

dibblecorse said:

What proof do you have that she stated it had 2 spaces ? And surely your solicitor will have outlined the property particulars in your pre exchange report ??

Also your survey should have covered this.

If I were your vendor I'd be telling you to do one.

The propery information questionnaire she completed states 2 allocated spaces which is incorrect.

The solicitors obviously did not look at it very thoroughly and I imagine they were taken in by the misrepresentations in the estate agents’ particulars of sale and the seller’s answers in the property questionnaire (no excuse at all but probably contributed to their not doing the job carefully).

However, as I specifically raised it theyshould have made them check the plans very carefully so it is not impressive.

[dibblecorse]

Jcwjosh said:

dibblecorse said:

What proof do you have that she stated it had 2 spaces ? And surely your solicitor will have outlined the property particulars in your pre exchange report ??

Also your survey should have covered this.

If I were your vendor I'd be telling you to do one.

The propery information questionnaire she completed states 2 allocated spaces which is incorrect.

The solicitors obviously did not look at it very thoroughly and I imagine they were taken in by the misrepresentations in the estate agents’ particulars of sale and the seller’s answers in the property questionnaire (no excuse at all but probably contributed to their not doing the job carefully).

However, as I specifically raised it theyshould have made them check the plans very carefully so it is not impressive.

She will just claim it was an error on her part or she had been using them that long that she filled it in on autopilot but its down to your solicitor to confirm the claims, I reckon unfortunately you're out of luck on this one.

[Jcwjosh]

dibblecorse said:

She will just claim it was an error on her part or she had been using them that long that she filled it in on autopilot but its down to your solicitor to confirm the claims, I reckon unfortunately you're out of luck on this one.

No problem i appreciate your honesty. Feels like i really got shafted on my first house purchase.

[Far Cough]

You've tried to sue the solicitors, been told to do one. Now you want to sue the vendor instead ? I think your banging your head against a brick wall. I agree that the conveyancing solicitors should have checked this and fault lies with them as you specifically asked apparently.

Its a difficult one because where can you go with it if the vendor acknowledges any correspondence and blames a clerical error. This was 3 years ago and no right minded person is going to part with 5-7k because of a simple misunderstanding that your solicitors should have been all over in the 1st place.

[Jcwjosh]

Far Cough said:

You've tried to sue the solicitors, been told to do one. Now you want to sue the vendor instead ? I think your banging your head against a brick wall . I agree that the conveyancing solicitors should have checked this and fault lies with them as you specifically asked apparently.

Its a difficult one because where can you go with it if the vendor acknowledges any correspondence and blames a clerical error. This was 3 years ago and no right minded person is going to part with 5-7k because of a simple misunderstanding that your solicitors should have been all over in the 1st place.

I received some legal advice initially and was told to approach the solicitors first as they were beleived to have insurance to cover this cock up...Even though i personally felt the vendor was more responsible for the incorrect information.

To be honest i had half decided this wasnt worth the stress and time a few months ago but i managed to trace the vendors address and have been thinking about it again..I think i just have to chalk this up as a life lesson.

[Peter911]

I have a bridge for sale in London if you are interested.

[CYMR0]

I'd love to know why the solicitors were found not to be at fault.

I don't mean to be harsh, but if they were not at fault over something as basic as the property described in the contract not being the property conveyed via the Land Registry, it'd be truly extraordinary.

This makes me think that you probably didn't buy the property you thought you did - and if that's the case, while it's unfortunate, it'll be very difficult to suggest that the fault lies with the vendor. If you have more information as to why the solicitors were found not to be at fault, this might shed some more light.

[GT03ROB]

As others have said if there is no fault on the part of the solicitors i think you will be out of luck with the original vendors.

[borcy]

What was the reason given specifically as to why the solicitors wasn't at fault?

[Durzel]

Aside from any of the above if you’re the claimant and lose in small claims court you’re not on the hook for the other party’s costs, legal or otherwise.

The judge MAY allow a counter claim for a nominal amount of costs - e.g. parking, day off work, but I’d be surprised if it exceeded £100, unless your conduct is terrible.

If all you’ve realistically got to go on is a questionnaire then you probably don’t have much of a case, to be honest. Those questionnaires are notorious for being filled out incorrectly, or not at all.

[Jcwjosh]

Thanks for you input all.. I will dig out the reasoning provided by the solicitor and the legal ombudsman and post it up tomorrow.. but off the top of my head they said there wasn't much more the solicitor could have done apart form ask the questions I raised or physically compared the title deeds whilst viewing the property ( something I have learnt I should do but didn't think of at the time ) they all point towards misrepresentation from the seller. Obviously I take it all with a pinch of salt and everything is worded to cover their own arses.

[meatballs]

Seem to recall there was a big warning on my questionnaire saying it was legally binding. Just because they are notoriously incorrect shouldn't have any bearing?

The NAEA (estate agent body) sample questionnaire states

NAEA said:

This form runs in line with the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and must be completed
as accurately as possible. Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 both the seller
and agent must disclose anything, within their knowledge, that would affect the transactional decision of the
average consumer.
The purpose of this form is to help sellers and agents understand the types of details that should be disclosed if
known. However it should not be considered exhaustive and as such anything material not included on the form
that you feel would affect the decision of the average buyer should also be disclosed to potential purchasers.
If you are found to be in breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 then you could
face both an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment of up to two years.

Although it sounds more like it's to protect the EA? Maybe an option to go after the EA (more likely to pay) and then they can chase the vendor.

Don't see you have much to lose going to small claims though.

[Jcwjosh]

Durzel said:

Aside from any of the above if you’re the claimant and lose in small claims court you’re not on the hook for the other party’s costs, legal or otherwise.

The judge MAY allow a counter claim for a nominal amount of costs - e.g. parking, day off work, but I’d be surprised if it exceeded £100, unless your conduct is terrible.

If all you’ve realistically got to go on is a questionnaire then you probably don’t have much of a case, to be honest. Those questionnaires are notorious for being filled out incorrectly, or not at all.

I have the property information form completed by the seller .. the particulars of sale.. the property advert.. and replies to the queries raised all stating 2 spaces.. the estate agent advertising the property said they have used the information provided by the seller so theres 3 or 4 pieces of evidence all pointing to 2 spaces but yes maybe I am clutching at straws here... Either way it's been good to get everyone's opinion.. lesson learnt to not be so naive.. 🙄

[GT72]

What did the neighbour say, had the vendor also been parking in their space, had there been a dispute?

If the estate agent particulars and the questionnaire both say 2 spaces I think saying it was an error would be difficult to support. You have to confirm that the information is correct to the EA before the property is advertised.

[springfan62]

When you purchased were the parking spaces not identified on the title plan?

[Sheepshanks]

GT72 said:

What did the neighbour say, had the vendor also been parking in their space, had there been a dispute?

I'd say that was quite crucial. Unless the neighbour says the vendor always used the extra space and there was never any objection then the vendor has made a prettty significant mis-statement as it does affect the value of the property.

I'd certainly be minded to have a go in court, especially if everyone else in the process point at the vendor.

[nikaiyo2]

Do you have legal cover with your home insurance? If so would seem like a call to their help line would be wise.

[Jcwjosh]

GT72 said:

What did the neighbour say, had the vendor also been parking in their space, had there been a dispute?

If the estate agent particulars and the questionnaire both say 2 spaces I think saying it was an error would be difficult to support. You have to confirm that the information is correct to the EA before the property is advertised.

This is why I found it very odd she had used the 2 parking spaces but the Neighbour waited for me to move in to raise the issue.