simultaneous settlement is postponed. Can penalty monies be requested?

My client had a simultaneous settlement today, moving out of her current home and into another. 2 hire trucks full of furniture were outside of her house waiting for confirmation of settlement to move into the the new one. Turns out the vendor of the new property was simultaneously settling too and was unable to settle on their new home due to insufficient funds.

Can my client bill the vendor for removal fees and any penalties imposed for the late settlement of their current home? Their part-time conveyancing solicitor is saying they can't do anything, but thought I'd ask the specialists in here if that is in fact the case. thanks.

 

What does the contract say?

I haven’t bought as many houses as some but all the contracts I’ve seen are loaded in favour of the vendor - because they come from the vendors solicitor. I haven’t seen one that started out with a condition for the vendor to pay penalty interest if they fail to settle and only seen the clause apply to the purchaser. Did the purchaser ask for the clause to be added?

I doubt they would have any recourse unless their solicitor added the clause to start with. Good reason to get the contract reviewed prior to signing if possible.

I am not a solicitor btw. Good luck to your friend for their move!

 

So which contract fell over?

If it was the vendor of their new house then they should still have been able to settle on their previous house. They may be homeless, but no liability to buyers of previous house.
Marg

 

The purchase contract. The solicitor said that their sale contract couldn't settle as they were all simultaneous.

 

Buyer should have put in a clause for penalties if this happened.