Seller withdraws after accepting offer

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RadiumRob

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Please can anyone advise me what rights (if any) I have in the following situation?

Negotiating through a broker, a seller verbally accepted my offer on his boat only to withdraw it from sale the following day stating that his wife had decided they wanted to keep the boat. The withdrawal was reported to the broker before I had a chance to pay the deposit.

The offer was the asking price with a few fairly low value extras thrown in, so it isn’t as if the seller was being unfairly dealt with.

I have the RYA guide book, but this doesn’t seem to offer much help other than to say a verbal contract is binding.

Naturally, the broker is fuming as it seems that the seller is in breach of his contract (the broker having arranged a deal at the agreed asking price).
 
Move on.
You can't make somebody sell something.
His verbal acceptance is not worth the paper it's written on.

His argument with the broker is a separate issue.
 
I believe a verbal agreement for the sale of a boat is enforceable. The problem is proving the contract, which might be easier in this case because you have the broker as a witness / agent. It would be useful to get the broker to confirm the position in writing as quickly as possible to preserve his evidence.

You are unlikely to get a court to order that the vendor completes the sale (although it is possible) unless the boat is extremely rare. It is more likely you would get damages. If you go on to buy another comparable boat and it costs you say £10,000 more, you can claim that £10,000 difference in price.

But. Your legal fees will exceed anything you recover, unless you pursue the claim in small claims court (where you can do it yourself). First step might be to write to vendor and broker confirming that you had a verbal agreement, that the agreement is binding (give all the details of times, dates, prices etc.) and tell him that you expect him to follow through, failing which you will consider taking legal action.

Edit - in any dispute you have three options. Settle, sue or do nothing. Best option in this case is probably try to settle, if he'll agree to throw a few quid your way. Alternatively do nothing if the amount at stake isn't worth the aggravation. If you really think you got an exceptional deal and you won't find such a good deal again, you might consider suing in small claims court. But think about it for a while. In the meantime go and find yourself a buyer who will sell. But send your letter to this guy first, and see if he'll agree to sell after you've set out the position clearly.
 
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^^ +1 don't stop for a moment... get out there this weekend and start looking again, not worth even getting agitated about (especially if you haven't got any major expense against that boat so far)
 
oldharry said:
Nothing is sold until money has changed hands. Same as in property sales.
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Are you SURE about that? Verbal agreements for the sale of goods are generally enforceable. Only exception I am aware of is real property and some rare types of contracts.
 
Thanks.

No financial costs have been incurred yet.

I suppose I'm hoping that the broker will pursue vendor for his lost fees, which might prompt him to go through with the sale after all.

Meanwhile, back to the long and frustrating search...
 
oldharry said:
Nothing is sold until money has changed hands. Same as in property sales.
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That's not true. If your offer was made and accepted in front of a witness then you have a legally enforceable contract.

In the UK property sales are different, legally property can only be sold under a written contract.

By breaking the contract the seller becomes liable for any costs incurred by you as a result of entering into the contract. But there aren't any. So that's that I'm afraid.
 
Just spoken to my SWMBO (a solicitor).

She says that you probably do have an enforceable contract. However, she advises to forget it and buy another, unless there is something really, really special about that particular boat.

So.... sound advice from most of the above posts (even oldharry, who's totally wrong technically, but gives the same outcome).
 
NealB said:
Just spoken to my SWMBO (a solicitor).

She says that you probably do have an enforceable contract. However, she advises to forget it and buy another, unless there is something really, really special about that particular boat.

So.... sound advice from most of the above posts (even oldharry, who's totally wrong technically, but gives the same outcome).
Click to expand...

Sorry to disagree with a legal professional, but in PRACTICE OldHarry is right.

It is impossible to enforce a verbal contract, not worth even thinking about it.
 
MoodyNick said:
Sorry to disagree with a legal professional, but in PRACTICE OldHarry is right.

It is impossible to enforce a verbal contract, not worth even thinking about it.
Click to expand...


To be absolutely pedantic, you are not disagreeing with the legal professional, you are in fact agreeing with her.
 
oldbilbo said:
The trouble with verbal contracts is that they're generally worth no more than the paper they're printed on.
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Except in this case, where there seems to be either a witness or an agent (the broker). If the broker gives independent evidence supporting the contract, the OP would have a pretty good shot at enforcing the contract.
He could recover not only costs incurred, but also damages - the difference between what he agreed to pay for this boat, and what he had to pay for a similar boat.
Of course, if he hasn't incurred any damages and finds a similar boat for the same price, he hasn't sufferred any loss, so won't get anything.
 
As a broker is involved, you will have both accepted their conditions by dealing with them.
So it's all probably implicitly 'subject to contract' at least until a deposit has been accepted.
You could look a tad silly trying to enforce your right to buy if the boat then failed its survey in an expensive way.
 
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