Misdescription Costs - Or Not

The neighbour from hell can make things worse than you think, especially if you try to pretend they don't exist.

A couple who put "no" as their answer to a standard question in the Sellers Property Information Form concerning disputes with neighbours found themselves in court accused of fraudulent misrepresentation. Despite having what the judge called "an atmosphere of constant confrontation" with their neighbours, the couple failed to disclose a long running dispute with them over the access to the property.

The result was that the couple were required to pay their purchasers £67,000 in an out of court settlement.

More recently, an estate agent whose particulars of a property included land adjacent to the property which was not in fact owned by the vendor, was ruled to have no liability for the misdescription, which was inadvertent.

The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.