A feeling of been hoodwinked.

[0121-Dave.]

I have come to the conclusion my family & I may have been hoodwinked
We have a 3 bedroom council house & wish to move away from area we live, our house has 2 downstairs living rooms so plenty of storage space but a tiny kitchen.
A couple contacted us with a suitable mutual exchange proposal, 3 bedroom but just 1 living room however a decent size shed to compensate, nice garden & nicer area also.

3 months ago, the exchange proposal being submitted & approved by council .
A date was set for us & them to sign exchange papers end of august, but as the council said all removals should be completed within 5 days, understandibly , the other party declined due to his apparant bad heart.

No problem I thought & another date was set for signing end of sept, surely nothing could go wrong this time, as I cleared 1 of our living rooms so they could bring some their belongings up prior to signing, I put most of our belongings into a storage facility costing us £111pm.

Day came for us to sign, the other party would not answer their phones up untill the last couple of hours.
The reason they gave this time was due to a bereavement of his ladyfriends sister, (not directly related to him & he's the person who were doing exchange with, his ladyfriend is a co-habiting relationship & she has her own flat in Tamworth).

Of course, not wishing to sound in-sensitive, I said "OK, do you still want to exchange & if so, when do you think you'll feel up to signing papers ?"
Understandibly, he said , "at this moment in time I'm so upset & cannot give you answer" but he emphasized on the issue that; "I'd fully understand if you wished to back out of exchange"
(my guess is he had 2nd thoughts about the size of our kitchen & he did'nt want to be the one to look foolish)
I cannot afford to keep our belongings in storage for the benefit of their storage at our house FREE OF CHARGE till he gets over bereavement.

Also, & this has really got me suspicious- they hold car boot sales, & the season for that is now over till march.
Their stuff at our house includes;
Lots of bubble wrap plastic sheeting, a heavy duty long foldable table, canopy's & tent like covers, tarpaulins, parasols,
2 kettles, 2 small vacuums, 2 dozen pictures frames of various sizes & condition, (none of them are "family member" photo's) , assortment of books & lots of dis-assembled components for making up of fitted wardrobes, & a few brand new kitchen cupboard units & still in protective cardboard,
2x boxed stainless steel sink units, a portable stand for the purpose of hanging clothes on display, some large clear plastic storage boxes with mostly junk, toys & a few personal items of paperwork mixed in I think just for show.

Now I reckon we've been led up the garden path, as twice backed out of signing , & they Know I cannot appear impatient & in-sensitive over the apparent bereavement., so it was us who finally gave in & backed out, but we felt we had no alternative under the financial circumstances.

I want our belongings back out of storage, but cannot do this because of their stuff at our house, & I think their plan is to use us as free storage for as long as they're able, I suspect we're being used & he had no genuine intention of house exchange !!

The bereavement story may be a pack of lies, but, & with respect even if true, I cannot afford to pay for my own belongings for much longer at a storage units I'm renting, it my unit was due to be emptied with my belongings going to the other house, untill he decided he could'nt sign papers.

How can I best resolve this situation we're now in, easy thing would be for me to load up my car or hire a van at my own expense to take their stuff back, but he's hardly ever at the house, as he's always over his ladyfriend's flat in Tamworth & they both rarely answer their mobile phones.

Advice & opinions needed, we're stuck in a limbo situation, as most of our stuff is packed tightly in storage units, I had to empty & re-fill one unit I have just to retrieve our DVD player.

Your opinions & any advice appreciated please.

[Heaven Knows]

Hi there.

It certainly sounds very odd for them to keep their things at your house, even with a bereavement.

I would personally call him and explain that you cannot afford to keep their things are your house any longer - that you require the room back for functional use as they you are no longer going through with the exchange.

It is perfectly understandable for you to not hold this persons belongings anymore. Do they live far from you, is there anyway you can drop them off at their house - mainly as a last resort if they refuse to move it themselves?

He doesn't have any right at all leaving things in your property and I would say that if you advise him, either by phone or preferably by letter, that you would like these things moved by a certain date or they will be disposed of. I know it sounds a little harsh, but he seems to be pushing his luck to be honest (IMO) and I would be doing the same if I were in your shoes.

I hope you manage to get things sorted out soon.

x Katie x

[tifflehan]

^^ I second that^^

Give them a date by which you want it all moved. If it hasnt gone by then, get it shifted. Maybe you could contact citizens advice and see where you stand legally to get it disposed of.

[0121-Dave.]

Thankyou both for replies
It does seem very strange & yes it does seem he is pushing his luck & playing for time, people often say I'm too paranoid, but sadly I have fairly good reason to be on this occasion.

The more I think about this, the more I get the feeling this has all been planned by them, as they planted seeds of potential problems months ago including;
1. His ladyfriends sister being in poor health for last few months & now passed away,
2. He has a heart condition, & once spoke of when he recently had to be admited to hospital overnight.
3. His grown up sons are reluctant to move house.

On every visit they've made to us, the coversation would be dwelling on 1 the 3 above issues, any one of them "seeds" a perfect excuse to "stall" signing of papers.

When a few days ago I asked him "when do you think you'd be able to move your belongings back out ?" , His reply was; "I'll try to sort something out", Now, "try" being the key word in his reply, & my guess he'll try & play for time on the apparant issue of "bereavment" ,

Looking at the items they have at our house , like the portable cloths hanger, 2 kettles & similar "car boot sale" requisits , it's now pretty damned obvious whats going on & I feel angry at myself for us it seems duped by these dis-honest people, yet they come accross as being friendly & decent.
The only reason I agreed to store their belongings was to give them a "headstart" for moving before papers were *signed*, = (*which I reckon he had no intentions of doing so right from the start )

Yes, I'll nip up to the C.A.B. & get some advice for where I stand legally on this fiasco , the sooner the better, as I dont see them rushing themselves & he's hardly at his house in Hall Green as spends time with her in Tamworth,
That was their "reason" for moving btw, - Erdington (where we live) is closer to Tamworth than Hall green.

Dave.

[Mandimoo]

ok so you have no responsibility to house their items, you are not their landlord, they do not own your house, you have no written contracts with them, tell them they have a week to collect or it's going outside, if it's not gone then you will assume they do not want their belongings. (put it on ebay or free cycle)
mand x

[0121-Dave.]

Small update;
I've been to C.A.B. to book an appointment for next wednesday, I also called in at the police station as to find out what my / his obligations are, they said basically the same as already advized above.

I relize I may have to persue a legal path as to resolve this.
A situation of apparent bereavement true or not, we need to move on to a conclusion - i.e - their car boot stuff out of our house asap.

On saturday his ladyfreind came down (possibly to judge our mood) she asked if we could hold on to their stuff for a while longer , my wife asked how long but she declined to give an answer, & they promised to phone us on tuesday but up to now we've not heard a thing even though we've phoned them asking them to update.

I feel they're just trying to play for time & I'll have to take the legal option to get things moving.

[Mandimoo]

send a recorded letter (proof of delivery) and say you have no obligation to house their items, but out of courtesy you are giving them 7 days to remove the items before they are disposed of.

they cannot say they weren't warned, they cannot try and sue you - you made sure they have time to get their stuff, 7 days is reasonable considering the time passed since the decision not to proceed was made, you have no reason to keep their things. if they don't come for them advertise on free cycle to get rid of some (people will collect) then you have less to take to the local tip.

[0121-Dave.]

Hi, Thanks for all replies,
I earlier sent him a polite text, I await to see if he replies, otherwise I'll be sending a formal request by recorded delivery giving him fair notice to remove his belongings.

Will keep you updated, thanks.

[Mandimoo]

well done, i'd send one by recorded as well then he can't later claim to have not received it, or to have lost his phone, someone else replied i didn't see the message etc etc

[PoisonedApple]

i agree whole heartedly with mand...
i'd also like to add to your options of getting the items picked up (assuming they don't come get them), craigslist is very useful for things of that sort right along with freecycle and ebay as possibilities.
best of luck.
and don't let them make you feel bad for them being dishonest, no good can come of that. *hugs*

[0121-Dave.]

An update as promised, (thanks for all the replies on this btw- lovely people )

Good news is that today, his ladyfriend arranged a large box transit van, 2 chaps with myself helping to load , as to remove all of their items (mostly hers) from our house back to wherever**.

His ladyfriend came to visit us on saturday expressing deep regrets , (**compliated on/off situation between herself & the person who we were to exchanging house with)
She also insisted on refunding some of our storage unit expenses etc.
The money certainly came in handy as the MOT billing on my car was a bit of a cringe.

I'm now happy as we have 2 rooms empty (I just need to move our items out from storage to back home)

Although we still wish to take up a future opportunity to move house away from the area we're in, I'm still looking forward to getting back to my modelling hobby now I have the space to do this again.

I'm very greatfull for all your support & advice.

Dave.

[Mandimoo]

I used to live in Kidderminster, nice area away from the town.

[0121-Dave.]

Hi Mand, Yes, I worked over at kidderminster 10 years ago , I was doing security & was posted at a site for a new house build development middle/north of the town centre by canal.., certaintly had to keep on my toes & have my wits about me on a couple of occasions.

[tifflehan]

I'm glad everything is sorted. Back to normal now?

[0121-Dave.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tifflehan

I'm glad everything is sorted. Back to normal now?

Hi Tiff, Thanks.
Yes, still getting there, as I still need to bring a lot our stuff out from storage, (my wife wants her favorite DVD's back & I'm keen to get back to modelling)

I reckon I must have pulled a muscle in my stomach due to me lifting things etc, as feels a little tender around my waist , so I'm taking it easy for a while & hope any damage is'nt too serious.

[~Grace~]

Really pleased that things are now sorted xxx

[0121-Dave.]

Thanks Grace

[-Carpe Diem]

Slightly off topic but Kidderminister/Bromsgrove/Droitwhich are all really nice areas (:

Sorry the house swap didn't work out for you though
.x

[0121-Dave.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whispers In The Dark

Slightly off topic but Kidderminister/Bromsgrove/Droitwhich are all really nice areas (:

Sorry the house swap didn't work out for you though
.x

Yes indeed, those are lovely area's & kiddi has a great model railway shop opposite railway station.

Yes , bit of a dissapointment having our hopes built up by these people for last 6 months, but I dare say there will be other other opportunity's for us to move, or better still, other circumstances may change with any luck, as tbh, its quite a large house we live & the majority of neighbours we have are decent respectful people, I'll need to make the best of those virtues.

Excellent service given to us by C.A.B. btw, as they gave us a courtesy phonecall yesterday as to assess further any advice on situation (in my opening posts thats now resolved), they also sent me some legal advice had the situation dragged on longer.