House Sale Complete but buyers not happy with things!

[happybunch]

We completed on our house sale last week but had had contentious buyers all the way along. Just when we thought everything was over, we have had a letter from their solicitor with various points that they have come across since moving in and are unhappy with. Is there anything they can do at this point or now we've completed is it too late? They had a full home buyers survey done and we rectified all the problems that threw up, they are now saying we've had two major leaks in two of the bathrooms and have covered them up by painting them over (something we are completely unaware of), they say the gas fire shut off is covered with electrical tape and not working (again nothing we were aware of, we had the gas fire serviced at their request prior to exchange and it passed with flying colours!). Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks.

[GreatBallsOfFluff]

Nothing they can do. Sleep easy

[ginmakesitallok]

I'd have thought that once it's sold and they've moved in there's nothing they can do??

[20wkbaby]

I would say they don't have a leg to stand on. Did you get a certificate with the service for the gas fire? This should prove whatever they say that the fire was in working order. Can't help too much with the legalities but surely once the sale is complete the time for nit picking and expecting some kind of compensation or work done is past?

I'm sure most people move into their new home and find things they were not quite expecting but it sounds like they and you did everything you both could to make sure things were fixed and you can't really be held responsible for their expectations or genuine misapprehensions. I speak as someone who has recently bought a property and has had nice surprises about things we thought would be worse as well, as discovering other things we need to do work on. There is only so much research you can do and once you agree to the sale and the money has changed hands then unless they can prove you have deliberately mislead them then I would imagine they will have to live with it. It's not exactly major stuff or they would have thought to check beforehand.

[Friendlymum67]

I agree with GBOFluff - nothing they can do now. Suspect the solictor's letter is a bluff in the hope that you will respond with compensation?? Ignore the letter - they sound horrible people!

[happybunch]

Thanks 'Friendlymum67' and all other respondees. It has been a very stressful move and we, and our solicitor, have never encountered people like this before! As 20wkbaby said, you expect to find things that aren't quite as you thought when you first move in but I would have thought them having a full home buyers survey would have thrown anything like leaks etc. up and it didn't. I don't know what they are talking about as we were never aware of leaks of any kind. Yes we have the receipt for gas fire service (they have a copy too), it was all organised through our estate agent. I will try and take a deep breath and not worry about it. Thank you all.

[wonkylegs]

As long as you didn't deliberately mislead them you are ok.
If you negotiated on their survey and did what was agreed and nothing that has been discovered is illegal and you knew about it then they don't have a leg to stand on.
They would have to bring a civil case against you which would be expensive for them if they lost (likely)
My parents bought a lemon which the original owners spent some serious effort covering up serious subsidence on.(built in new cabinets and wooden panelling and wallpapering over cracks 2inches wide) They ended up suing the surveyors not the original owners tho partly as there is more chance of getting money from a company than an individual. They won but it still cost them £100k to sort out on top of what they got through the courts

[CristinadellaPizza]

Actually what wonkylegs said is a good point - if they have any issues, they should take them up with their surveyor, not you. They have no comeback as far as you're concerned (and they sound a pita)

[nancerama]

Sounds like the buyer DH sold his flat to. After they had agreed to purchase, but before contracts were exchanged the idiot upstairs fitted a new bathroom (badly) which leaked into DH's flat. We contacted the estate agent, the buyer and the buyer's solicitor to tell them what had happened,and to inform them that numpty upstairs had fixed the leak and would repaint the ceiling when it had dried out. We did stress that we couldn't be sure how bad the leak had been, but that they night like to get another survey done to be sure. They didn't bother to get the survey done and completed the purchase.

2 days after they moved in, they called the estate agent claiming "the bathroom ceiling had come down" and asking for their money back!

Our solicitor told us that we weren't liable as the sale had completed. The buyer didn't contact us again.

[zipzap]

nan - when we moved house we were advised to insure our new house from when contracts were exchanged rather than when they were completed so we were covered if anything happened in this time - rare but as you/your buyers found out it does happen!