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Jonathan Kamens
 
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Default Did Seller violate the offer letter

(Saravana) writes:
I spoke with my attorney who had tried to call this seller and left
him a voice message and the seller has not responded for the last 2
days.


A voice-mail message? I'm not sure that an attorney who thinks that a
voice-mail message is an appropriate way to notify someone of impending
legal action is an attorney worth retaining. Usually, such
notifications are sent via certified mail with the recipient required
to sign for the letter.

So I decided to file a case in my district court for small
claims. It was pretty simple and costed me 40$. The case has been
posted for end of September.


$40? Wow, they've more than doubled the fee. I guess Massachusetts
is looking to drum up cash any way it can.

I have proof of the offer letter, the returned checks and email which
I have sent him that clearly states that he will do the Sales &
Purchase. I hope that should be sufficient to get justice.


Small-claims court is a crap-shoot. You may get a judge who knows
enough about real-estate law to know that the seller is in the wrong,
and you may not, in which case you either have to hope that his common
sense tells him you're right, or you have to go into the hearing
prepared to present a legal case in addition to the evidence you've
listed. It would be useful for you to do some research so that you are
armed with the citations of precedent-setting Massachusetts cases.
There are three relevant concepts here -- (1) a seller cannot back out
of a deal using delays which he caused as a justification; (2) if an
offer acceptance letter does not say "time is of the essence," a seller
usually cannot back out of a deal merely because a written deadline has
passed if the buyer is still interested in closing the deal; (3) it's
illegal, both civilly and criminally, to stop payment on a check when
the circumstances surrounding the writing of that check have not
changed.

If you do not feel qualified to do the research necessary to arm
yourself with precedents related to these concepts, then you may wish
to reconsider your plan to represent yourself in small-claims court.

I have sued him for the offer deposit+home inspection cost+2 days
pay(since I had to take two days off after this frustrating incident).
Is this correct?


Even if the clerk or judge hearing the case agrees that you are owed
the deposit and home inspection cost, he may choose not to award you
the lost wages, but it doesn't hurt to ask. You should be sure to
bring with you proof of employment and of how your wages are calculated
so that you can prove the amount if the defendant challenges it. You
may also wish to ask your employer to provide written confirmation that
you would have been working on the days you missed to handle all of
this.

And also if anyone has experience in small claim
court please advice on how it works? Any help is highly appreciated?


Read the stuff they gave you and/or sent you when your trial was
scheduled. If they didn't give you information, then go find it at
http://www.state.ma.us/. It isn't any more complicated than what's
written in the documentation they provide.