No disclosure of nightmare neighbours.

[Rocketmann]

Hi there,

We recently purchased our first property Oct 2017, since then our next door neighbours have been severely harassing us. Upon reporting this to the Police it became aware to us that the previous occupants of our house were also victims of next doors harassment and had to vacate their home because of it. The previous occupant had made numerous complaints to the Police and ultimately left due to stress, the house was empty for a year before we purchased it.

My question is, during the purchasing process we were never told about this issue, we were never told we were buying next door to problematic neighbours. Now we are victims of the same harasser, should this of not been disclosed to us during the purchasing process? If I had know we were going to live this misery I would of never purchased the house.

I feel angry at our Solicitor who we used to buy, I always felt they were hiding something. Do I have a case for legal action against the solicitors involved in the their sale and my purchase?

[wales01man]

Did you or your Solicitor ask if the neighbours were a problem?

[Rocketmann]

I thought that was part of the checks your Solicitor is employed to perform?

[Amethyst]

Was anything mentioned at all on the Seller’s Property Information Form ?

Was the seller the person who had had the issues with the neighbour or had they sold it to someone else before it lay empty and was then sold to you ?

McMeekin v Long [2003] might be helpful

[Rocketmann]

Hi there,

No, there was no indication of troublesome neighbours throughout the purchasing process.

We are the property's 2nd owner from new. It was the original (first) owner who had the harassment issue that I wasn't informed of.

[2222]

A standard part of the conveyancing process carried out by your solicitor is to issue a property information form to your seller. The form normally used is here.
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/suppor...form-specimen/

that form arm gets filled in by the seller and returned to your solicitor, who should have sent a copy to you. Did you get it?

what does it say at section 2, which is about disputes?

The seller is responsible for filling that in accurately, and you can sue him if, as seems likely h6ere, he withheld important information.

Your solicitor just sends out the forms and checks them when they come back. He sends you a report on title before you buy. Did you get that, and did it mention anything about the neighbours?

finally, the solicitor has no way to investigate whether the seller has filled in the forms accurately. That's not his job.

I'm sorry for you, especially as it's your first house. The paperwork trail will make it clear whether the solicitor slipped up and failed to notice the seller admitted disputes, or whether the seller withheld the information.

[Rocketmann]

Thanks for the reply 2222,

I do remember this form yes, I'm 100% certain nothing was noted about the neighbours. I run my own small company and I'm used to negotiating deals and reviewing contracts, I would of spotted it. I'll go over all the documents I have tonight to see if I have a copy.

Many thanks for the reply,

[Amethyst]

If the person you purchased the house off of was the first owner and the one who had had the neighbour disputes and made the reports to the police previously then they may be liable if they did not disclose that information on the SPIF.

That the property had lain empty for a year after the seller had moved out, possibly due TO the neighbour disputes ( did they give a reason why they had moved out ? ) then I suspect it's pretty set on they knew they should disclose that information.

McMeekin v Long [2003] might be helpful

Also more recently Doe v Skegg 2006 ( https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2006/3746.html )

Doe v Skegg [2006] All ER (D) 250 (Oct), 20 October 2006. The claimant had bought a semi-detached house from the defendants. The pre-sale enquiries asked whether the defendants knew of any disputes in respect of the property and whether they had sent any letters relating to the property. They said “no”. After moving-in, the claimants began to experience the anti-social behaviour of their neighbours. Inquiries revealed that the defendants had had the same trouble, had written to the neighbours and had threatened legal action. The Judge found that the defendants were liable for damages for their misrepresentation.

There was a CC case too which only seems to be reported in the Daily Mail - which relies on the issues not being ongoing and being no requirement to notify of 'past' issues - https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...neighbour.html

Are there neighbours on the other side of the troublesome neighbour and have they had ongoing issues ?

Also when you get the form copy - is there a Part II completed by the sellers solicitor ?

[Rocketmann]

Amethyst, you're a star with these links.!

I don't think 2 doors over have had issues with next door, I couldn't say.

I asked the agent why the property had laid empty for a year, I was given various reasons such as; 'we don't know', 'they purchased somewhere else', 'they got a job down south'.. they never mentioned neighbour problems.

A couple of months ago I attempted to contact the previous owners, I found them on FB and messaged them both asking if they had received harassment issues with next door. They never answered, I now understand why..!

I'll be back in touch when I have the SPIF.

[Amethyst]

May be worth seeing if you can have a chat with the other side neighbour, they may be able to confirm the issues have been ongoing and potentially any reason for the people that sold your house upping sticks. Just informally, ask if they've experienced any problems with your shared neighbour - don't get into details etc but be useful to know if they've had to deal with it as well and then if it did come to any claim you may be able to ask them to help with witness statements etc.

When you said before you felt the solicitor was holding something back, why was that? ( and I think it's a lesson in trusting your gut instinct sadly )