Todd H. wrote:
user writes:

Of course you should speak with an attorney. You should
already *have* one for a transaction as large as a house
purchase.

You should, but in many areas of the country, all manner of real
estate changes hands without them involved.

This is a good example of what happens when you try to save $600 and
don't use a lawyer. Had an attorney reviewed this contract, this
almost certainly would never have happened. It's still not clear to
me what happened here, as the OP is not being clear. Like Rich, I'd
like to know exactly when and exactly what the realtor is supposed to
have screwed up. And I'll bet it was BEFORE the buyer signed the
contract, that the inspection contigency was removed, not that the
realtor changed it after it was signed, which would be criminal
forgery.

If I were the buyer, I would have consulted a lawyer before signing the
contract. I also would have consulted an attorney immediately upon
realizing there was no inspection contingency. I absolutely would have
consulted one had I thought the realtor committed forgery. Having
failed to do any of that, I would still consult one now because the OP
is obviously in over his head. Among other things, there may still be
legal ways out of this contract, that if done correctly, would protect
the buyer from being sued.

Here's a scenario for you. Suppose the realtor, while supposidly
fessing up to the buyer, tells the owner of the agency a different
story, and says the buyer simply walked after signing the contract and
then stopped payment on the check. The real estate agency could sue
the buyer for their commission and IMO, they would have a pretty good
case, unless the buyer can prove someone did really change the contract
after he signed it.

I'd also want to know where I stand legally on stopping payment on the
check, because in some states, that can be treated similarly to writing
a bad check.




In Illinois, everyone uses real estate attorneys, there's plenty of
em, and prices are a few hundred bucks.

In Ohio and Texas, this simply wasn't the case. It's very rare to use
a real estate attorney in the markets I'm familiar with there. And
they're not easy nor cheap to find either.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/