Regarding a relative in Scotland who had an offer accepted on a house, and an offer on hers. Paperwork was advancing towards exchange, but then the seller managed to pull out of the sale and accept a higher offer.

They claimed a provision in the contract said that the the buyer (my relative) had to sell their house, and as they were in a chain, the house wasn’t sold until completion (or exchange) but obviously this would have happened on the same day as the rest of the chain.

Now you would presume that this is like England, where you would rarely accept an offer unless the purchaser was a cash buyer or had already accepted an offer.

The relative decided to sell her house regardless and is now camped out with another member of the family (six weeks and counting) whilst an alternative purchase goes through. Not ideal as she is elderly but very independent.

Both solicitors were pretty unhappy about the situation. Has there been any wrongdoing…should the relative be taking action to recover her losses or is this a loophole she has been caught up in? Previously she has always moved between England and Scotland, this is the first time she has moved within Scotland.

How was the offer accepted? In writing? A handshake? The solicitors will know better than folk on here.

https://www.lawscot.org.uk/media/228289/3799_Buying_A_Property.pdf

concluded missives?

AFAIK no wrong doing just poor show. It’s not bought until contracts exchanged. That now happens at last moment. Solicitors not happy because there’s a certain amount of trust needed.

Meant missives.

From what I can glean, this clause would be in the missives?

If that’s the case then surely it’s her solicitor’s fault for allowing such a clause to be in the missives…

Also she should seek advice from (perhaps another) solicitor regarding any come back

It’s actually not as illegal as it’s often made out to be, but most solicitors will strongly disapprove and may refuse to act for a seller who does that sort of thing, so it is pretty rare. When I sold a couple of years ago there was quite an interval between the offer accepted in principle and the missives being completed and making it watertight.

If that’s the case then surely it’s her solicitor’s fault for allowing such a clause to be in the missives….

+1

It’s not illegal, just bad practice, and the relative has no come back. They hadn’t concluded missives, nothing was legally binding.

Our experience of buying here 4 years ago and Aberfeldy 8 years ago was that much of the Scottish missives / offers system is now ignored.

We had estate agents trying all sorts of dodgy things, offers ‘accepted’ (we thought missives exchanged) from people that couldn’t and didn’t have a mortgage arranged. We missed two houses this way, as we had to buy and were already committed to the house we now have when the other houses re-emerged / called to say ‘it has fallen through’

We also found out that through the rise of online solicitors more issues/lack of Scottish practice (not always law) awareness was huge. We ended up the wrong side of a decision from a lender to stop lending in Scotland three days before conclusion. Our vendor allowed agreed date to pass then issued claim for full purchase cost, expenses and losses. We obviously then passed these on to lender that had let us down – with our costs on top as well. The lender was unaware of the Scottish system and that we had exchanged on the strength of the formal offer from them, on that property. Our (local) solicitor was brilliant in how quickly and strongly he worked. Cue the lender organising mortgage and paperwork in under a week…

We bought up here before in late ’90s, and due to solicitors practice (not law) it was as smooth as it gets. If I bought again up here I would be much more concerned and aware of the iffy estate agents practice and again use our trusted solicitor up here.

Missives exchanged means a series of questions are asked or queries made;
A form of dialogue, or conversation.
Missives Concluded means no more questions and, terms agreed with, conclusion of deal.

Had the missives been concluded?

My in-laws nearly had a sale fall through due to the buyer of their house not coming up with the funds on time (mortgage was never approved). At this point the missives had been concluded. Thankfully a few days later the funds were found (they borrowed from relatives). In accordance with the contract, my in-laws were reimbursed for any additional costs incurred, but this just amounted to a few £ lost interest.

So depending on the status of your missives and what’s written in them, your relative may be able to claim for costs.

Thanks all, it seems a bit of a minefield so I will not intervene, she is happy to move on so I’ll not risk causing her more stress!

Apologies to the questions but I wouldn’t be able to answer them without asking her for further details.

Your relative has a qualified legal professional – they may be a better source of advice than a bike forum.

Gazumping is possible in Scotland, although the window is usually narrower as the missives are not as drawn out as exchange of contracts. Absent a specific clause you can’t delay things waiting for a chain to form.

If a vendor accepts a higher offer, their solicitor should decline to act for them any further because it is a breach of law society guidelines.