Anything that can be done?

Kell

Folks,

In a shítty situation. Lets paint a picture-

I had picked a style of house plan, witnessed by two others this when I agreed what type of house I wanted with the estate agent. I was informed that the only floor plan I wanted left was house x which I subsequently paid a booking deposit for.

Roll forward several months to when I ask if some changes can be made to the house prior to completion. I am then informed (after paying a further 18k) that the house that is booked in my name is not in fact the one I saw, but a different house. If I want the type I saw, its another 10k thank you.

Its abundantly evident the estate agent fúcked up big time, but they are not accepting liability. They claim myself and two witnesses were "mistaken". Neither myself or my solicitor were forwarded floor plans despite numerous requests that would have spotted this mistake ages ago.

My solicitor has advised me that the bottom line is I either fork out the extra 10k to get what I should have in the first place or pull out. No in between. No taking the estate agents fúck up into consideration. Now while I get everything back if I pull out, I am loathe to. Next time I get round to it, property will of course have gone up.

Has anyone been in this situation i.e. put down a deposit on a place in good faith that they were being given correct information to find out that what was sold to them wasnt what they asked for. Can anything be done about this?

Thanks.

A truly depressed K-

Victor

Did you get a receipt saying "x thousand euro for property y"? Given your repeated requests and their failure to confirm, can you sue for either false advertising, misrepresentation or fraud? They might try the "estate agent has no power to agree anything route"

A complaint to the CIF / IHBA for was is in effect gazumping might be useful.

Even if you do have to put up the ten grand, at least put the boot in.

Kell

I have a receipt for x property alright, but its the wrong house.

When I had seen the house I wanted I asked how many were left and was given a choice of about three from which I made my choice. She advised the wrong house type was the problem.

The builders are of the opinion that it wasnt their mistake so no movement.

Thanks,

K-

If the plan was fundamental to the transaction, then presumably you should have inserted a condition in the contract specifying 'this contract is signed on the understanding that the plans produced by the auctioneer on the X day of Y form part of the contract for sale'. If you didn't, the bad news is that it may be a case of tough luck. Usually, there is a condition in contracts that representations by the auctioneer do not bind the developer so you won't get any joy jumping up and down about misrepresentations. Some have challeged such conditions and the Law Society have a practice note in the area, but they still are contained in most contracts.

Victor

Kell wrote:

I have a receipt for x property alright, but its the wrong house.

Do I have it right that the estate agent gave you a receipt for property type A, number B in the estate, when you wanted property type C, number D?

And it wasn't until later that you realised that it was incorrect?

Kell

Vic, specifically what the estate agent has done is put a deposit on a house type that I didnt see. When estate agent was pressed for plans, they claimed that they dont issue plans until after contract signing which is a tad cart before horse and bullshít according to my solicitor. How was I supposed to know exactly what I was getting without plans from the off.

Re the contracts, my solicitor has returned the contracts alright on the stipulation that floor plans are submitted. As there are no floorplans (yet) there is no contract per se.

It all smells from the point of view that I didnt see the house type that I am being told I have a deposit on and that submission of the floor plans by the estate agent/builder would have shown this ages ago. Its only now at the point of signing I am being told "oh no, you have made a mistake" and cough up another ten grand.

K-

Kell

Victor wrote:

A complaint to the CIF / IHBA for was is in effect gazumping might be useful.

Vic- How do I get a hold of these organisations?

Cheers,

K-

Victor

This the old milk / laptop trick.

http://www.cif.ie/asp/section.asp?s=1
http://www.cif.ie/asp/section.asp?s=698

cif@cif.ie
ihba@cif.ie