Buying from Dealer/Agents

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Dovorian

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This may sund a silly question but I'm is a bit of a quandry. We are wanting to purchase a horse which is being sold by a dealer on behalf of the owner. The horse's passport is still held by the owner and I asked for the passport before making paymnet. This semed sense to me at the time but since then I have begun to wonder if simply having the passport equates the the owner 'transferring ownership'. If all went wrong the dealer could have the cash and we could have a horse which isn't ours!!

I'm sure other forum members will have crossed this bridge so maybe I'm worring pointlessly?
 
Posession of a passport does not prove ownership. I'd get a receipt from the dealer for your payment and I wouldn't expect to receive the passport before I'd paid for the horse. Is the dealer reputable? Have you reason to worry that they will abscond with your cash? If you pay the dealer for the horse which is being sold on behalf of the owner, I'm sure the horse would legally be yours and the previous owner would need to take up their issue with the dealer to get the money off them.
 
As above for the passport.

Phone the owner & make sure it's all 100% legitimate. If the dealer is selling the horse & he has stolen it, even if you have a receipt it still belongs to the original owner & as such they can take it back regardless of what you paid. Even though the dealer is selling it, I would have a receipt from the owner & then the owner can pay the commission.
However, buying from a dealer means you should have the sales of goods act to fall back on, but you would then need to buy off him & not the owner.
 
As above but I would add that you should look at the passport anyway to verify age, vaccinations etc. I've looked at horses that have not matched their passport in the past.
 
I would ask the dealer if he has a written contract with the owner and ask to see it. If the dealer does not have authority to sell the horse, you would have to give it back regardless of whether you had a receipt. If the dealer was authorised to sell the horse, the owner would need to take up the matter with the dealer, but checking they have a written agreement is the best way to ensure the horse will be yours. Maybe ask for a copy of it to be included with your receipt?

Of course, there is always the possibilty that something will go wrong (ie the 'owner' stole the horse!) but if you cover yourself everywhere possible you should be ok.
 
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However, buying from a dealer means you should have the sales of goods act to fall back on, but you would then need to buy off him & not the owner.

[/ QUOTE ]


i'm pretty sure that if they're selling on behalf of a client, you don't actually have that same security.
i think it's 1 way dealers can wriggle out of it. so even if they aren't actually selling on behalf of someone, they can claim that, and so it's classed as a private sale.
so you're right you'd need to be buying from him, as a sale, not a sale on behalf of.
 
I'm selling my horse through an agent at the moment and they have the passport and a full contract signed by both of us. I'd be a bit wary not being able to see the passport
 
Never ever buy a horse which is being sold on behalf of someone else as you have no come backs under consumer rights laws. Don't touch it with a barge pole.
 
Having recently been stung by a dodgy dealer it all sounds a bit dodgy to me if they won't let you see the passport. I have the opposite problem though, I was sold a horse by a woman claiming to be a private seller who actually is a salesperson for a dealer with a horrendous reputation and whom I wouldn't have touched anything of his with a bargepole! I had not comebacks under consumer rights laws as she was a private seller but luckily I have evidence of at least 4 ads of hers in adtrader so I can now go after her as a dealer in her own right. At least with a dealer you do have rights under the sale of goods act if something goes wrong.

I would insist on seeing the passport and also as someone said earlier the vet will want to see it anyway at the vetting.

Have you asked why the owner isn't selling it herself?
 
It is incorrect that if the dealer is selling on behalf of a client that you don't have rights under the Sale of Goods Act. If the dealer handles the transaction ie. takes the money and gives a receipt then the dealer is held to be a trader in law. I know this because I recently queried this with Trading Standards. It is apparently often used as a scam to try and evade their responsibility - they are often completely unaware that they are responsible in law.
With regard to the passport issue, the passport should be with the horse, that is the law. I would insist on seeing it before parting with any money.
 
I bought a horse from a dealer, or so I thought. When the horse turned out to be dangerous I was told by the dealer that I had, in fact, bought it from private seller and the dealer was only the middleman. I tried to get my money back from the dealer but they said that it was nothing to do with them. I tried a couple of solicitors but they said that the case could drag on for years and that there was no guarantee of me winning anyway. I couldn't afford to keep an unrideable horse at livery for years so I sold it cheaply and lost a lot of money.
 
This is difficult, as if you buy off a horse off a dealer thats in on sales livery then its never actually the dealers horse. If something then went wrong I don't think they would have to give you money back but really should offer to take horse and re sell free of charge. But to be honest a good dealer will always give a weeks grace on any horse, so this shouldn't really be a problem!
 
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