rob wrote:
On 11 Apr 2006 11:46:03 -0700, wrote:
I recently found a house to buy. We agreed on a purchase price, put
down our money, and signed the contracts...all we had left to do was a
set a closing date. The seller took a while to set the date but since
all papers were filled out etc. we packed up our house. Today we were
finally going to recieve the closing date but when we got the phone
call, the realtor told our realtor that they had recieved a higher
offer and because the realtor did not sign one of the papers, our
contract is null and tanother family is now buying the house....is this
legal? Where did I go wrong. Please help!
This is not legal advice but I don't think so because usually the
contract is between the buyer and seller only and realtors are not a
party to the agreement BUT BUT BUT this a GUESS because there are
questions I don't really know the answer to because of your lack of
information.
You already got the BEST advice from others... seek an attorney fast
if you want to buy that house. And if you get your way, don't expect
the seller to be very friendly or cooperative beyond the terms of the
contract. Remember you're dealing with people too.
I have to say, I don;'t have much sympathy for the OP. As others have
pointed out, there is almost no useful info presented here. The icing
on the cake is that the seller is supposed to be backing out because
despite having a fully executed purchase contract, the real estate
agent didn't sign "some other paper."
Well, excuse me, but if I was in the middle of a sale like this and
someone called me and told me I'm screwed because something wasn;t
signed, I'd know exactly what document wasn't signed and it's
relevance before asking what to do on newsgroups. When they called
me, the first thing I'd say is what the hell are you talking about,
which document, who was supposed to sign it, fax over what you have,
etc.
What you want to do now depends on how much you are out, what the
"other paper" was, and who's fault all this is. If you really want the
house and want to make the seller perform, it's likely a good lawyer
can quickly make it clear to them that if they don't sell it to you ,
he will tie them up so they can't sell it to anyone else without a
court decision. He can threaten to sue the realtor, the seller, the
whole lot of them. And to get that to court could take a year during
which the seller will be stuck.
Another simpler solution is to just accept what they did, get the
deposit back, then sue the seller and realtor in small claims court for
the money you are out for legal fees, mortgage applications,
inspections, etc. And I'd add in the difference in price that they
sold it to the new buyer for, as you can claim the house appreciated
that much and the money should be yours. Depending on the state, the
limit is usually 2k-5k for small claims.
But a lot of this depends on exactly what that form was that was
supposed to be signed and that you provide zippo info about.
The one thing I would never do is what some have suggested and that is
to get into a new bidding war with these skunks. They screwed you
once, why should you now reward them by upping the price and letting
them do it to you again?