PHRAA has received a disturbing report from the distressed relatives of an elderly lady,  who had agreed to purchase a new Park Home from a well known multiple park owner and we publish this warning to alert all other close relatives of prospective purchasers of park homes to the problems they may well encounter should they find themselves in a similar very distressing position.

The lady in question was in the process of purchasing the home and on signing the necessary paperwork had paid a substantial non-refundable deposit amounting to 10% of the total purchase price stated to be well in excess of £100,000  in December 2006.

The home,  as we understand it, has not yet been delivered to the park from the manufacturers and from the copies of the order form in our possession the final date of delivery and installation of the home on the park, had yet to be stated.

Sadly before the transaction could be completed and well within 3 months of signing the paperwork., the lady sadly passed away and the relatives  immediately informed the park owner of this fact and obviously that the purchase could not now be proceeded with. 

In February 2007, the ladies close relatives received a letter from a firm of Solicitors acting for the park owner,  informing them that although the purchaser had sadly passed away and could no longer honour the contract she had signed agreeing to purchase the home, their Clients, (the park owner) intended to proceed with this contract, insisting that the contract is honoured by the executors of the late ladies estate, and also demanding that the outstanding balance of some nearly £100,000 be paid to the park owner by the executors. 

Although such threatened action would be very unlikely to succeed in a Court of Law,  it is obviously an attempt by the park owner, adding credibility to his claim by using a Solicitor, to enforce a sale on the grieving relatives when they are at their most vulnerable being obviously still in shock from the sad loss of a beloved parent and most likely to succumb.

Should the park owner succeed in his attempts to coerce the distraught relatives into acceding to his demands for payment the consequences may well be disastrous as they would be saddled with a home which,  without first obtaining the park owners written permission, they cannot occupy, although they will have paid for it in full, no doubt with added monthly pitch fees and other charges for the plot, dated from the date the contract was signed. The only option left open to the relatives or executors would be to resell the home, which can only be done by obtaining the written approval of a prospective buyer from the park owner. This clause in the Mobile Homes Act, (The law governing Park Homes)  gives the park owner absolute control over the sale of the home by presenting him with ample opportunities to interfere and put off every prospective purchaser, which can, and in many cases does, make it virtually impossible to sell the home on the open market. This enables the park owner to purchase the home for himself at a fraction of its true market value.  The only form of redress under the terms of the Mobile Homes Act 1983/2006,  open to the homeowner at this already very distressing time, is to embark in months or even years of enormously expensive and traumatic court action against the park owner in a bid to obtain the necessary approval, which brings its own problems.

A further very important factor,  which must be mentioned, is that whether the home is sold following successful Court Action, sold to the park owner or the sale goes through with no problems whatsoever, the seller is obliged, under the terms of the Mobile Homes Act, to pay the park owner up to 10% of the sale price on completion. In this case should the home be sold for the same price as when purchased, for example £100,000, the homeowner, or in this case, the relatives, will have lost £10,000 to the park owner, plus the costs of paying pitch fees and other charges incurred prior to sale.

To avoid a similar situation arising, PHRAA would advise any person in the process of buying a park home to obtain a written undertaking from the Park Owner, before paying a deposit or signing any documents,  to the effect that should the purchaser pass away before the transaction is completed the contract to purchase becomes null and void.