I am wondering I have a agent that I have some concerns about and I
believe he may of made changes to a house contract with the seller
without my knowledge. He has not cashed my good earnest deposit. If
I stopped payment on the deposit, could the seller go after me?

In article .com,
wrote:

I am wondering I have a agent that I have some concerns about and I
believe he may of made changes to a house contract with the seller
without my knowledge. He has not cashed my good earnest deposit. If
I stopped payment on the deposit, could the seller go after me?


Sure, but he probably won't. If you do stop payment on the check, make
sure you have a valid reason (as specified in the contract) for doing
so. That way, even if he does try to sue he will probably lose. I had
a real estate attorney tell me that winning a case for non-performance
as a seller against a buyer is very difficult (at least in California),
because the seller will have to prove damages. Typically, if the house
resells again for the same (or similar) price then there are no damages.
Most sellers just move on and sell the house to someone else without
tying up the house in court for months. If they try to sell it and
*can't* (or can't for anywhere near your offer) then you're in a lot
more trouble, which is why you should have a valid 'out' (contingency)
specified when you cancel the contract and stop payment.


Dimitri

The only problem is that I think my realtor screwed me and removed the
general inspection contingency without my knowledge so he claims that
since the seller wanted the "as-is" contingency, I can not back out of
the contract. I noticed a copy of the contract I got, the part where
general inspection contingency is stated with my initals is crossed
out. There is no indication of me signing off on the change. I think
any changes to the contract requires some sort of initials.

My realtor will not come clean and tell me the truth. I think he
scrwed up and now he is pushing me to buy the property. I am
willing to give a little of the deposit if needed. Do I have any
options? I am stuck.

writes:
The only problem is that I think my realtor screwed me and removed the
general inspection contingency without my knowledge so he claims that
since the seller wanted the "as-is" contingency, I can not back out of
the contract. I noticed a copy of the contract I got, the part where
general inspection contingency is stated with my initals is crossed
out. There is no indication of me signing off on the change. I think
any changes to the contract requires some sort of initials.

Hell yeah it does.


My realtor will not come clean and tell me the truth. I think he
scrwed up and now he is pushing me to buy the property. I am
willing to give a little of the deposit if needed. Do I have any
options? I am stuck.

Tell him that you have discussed the issue with your real estate
attorney (and make good on that), and that you under no circumstances
intend to close on this property without a general inspection clause,
and that his ass is going to be top on the ****list when you go file
your ethics complaints to the board of realtors in your state.

You're the buyer. You have all the marbles. As Dimitri stated, and
has been told to me by my own attorney in Illinois when I was
concerned about a buyer flaking on me, it's typically extremely
difficult for a seller to get their hands on that earnest money, and
to do so the seller has to prove actual damages, and by the time these
cases get to a judge, the judge asks "did the house sell?" "Yes."
And the case gets tossed with the air of "quit wasting my time with
your small change ****."

I mean, as you describe it, you don't even have a properly executed
contract to purchase.

If you know that someone doctored that contract and change the terms
on you, if it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to stop payment on that
check, and underscore that the contract is not valid as it's written.

And I'd report that goddamn realtor to the board in a heartbeat.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Todd H. wrote:
writes:
The only problem is that I think my realtor screwed me and removed the
general inspection contingency without my knowledge so he claims that
since the seller wanted the "as-is" contingency, I can not back out of
the contract. I noticed a copy of the contract I got, the part where
general inspection contingency is stated with my initals is crossed
out. There is no indication of me signing off on the change. I think
any changes to the contract requires some sort of initials.

Hell yeah it does.


My realtor will not come clean and tell me the truth. I think he
scrwed up and now he is pushing me to buy the property. I am
willing to give a little of the deposit if needed. Do I have any
options? I am stuck.

Tell him that you have discussed the issue with your real estate
attorney (and make good on that), and that you under no circumstances
intend to close on this property without a general inspection clause,
and that his ass is going to be top on the ****list when you go file
your ethics complaints to the board of realtors in your state.

You're the buyer. You have all the marbles. As Dimitri stated, and
has been told to me by my own attorney in Illinois when I was
concerned about a buyer flaking on me, it's typically extremely
difficult for a seller to get their hands on that earnest money, and
to do so the seller has to prove actual damages, and by the time these
cases get to a judge, the judge asks "did the house sell?" "Yes."
And the case gets tossed with the air of "quit wasting my time with
your small change ****."

I mean, as you describe it, you don't even have a properly executed
contract to purchase.

If you know that someone doctored that contract and change the terms
on you, if it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to stop payment on that
check, and underscore that the contract is not valid as it's written.

And I'd report that goddamn realtor to the board in a heartbeat.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/


Before he goes off reporting the realtor, don't you think he should
figure out what the hell he actually signed and what is really going
on? If the contract has the inspection clause crossed out, with the
buyer's initials next to it, as stated, then it sounds more to me like
he did in fact sign it that way. Normally a contract would only have
initials next to something to indicate a change and that it was
accepted.

While it's possible, I think it's very unlikely that a realtor would be
so brazen and obvious as to change a contract after it was signed.
But it's not even clear that the OP is claiming that, because while he
accuses the realtor of changing it, he didn't say if he thinks it was
done before or after he signed it.

Anyone who signs a contract for sale without carefully reading the
inspection contigency is making a big mistake. As is anyone who signed
a contract like this without having their attorney review it. If he
did that, the attorney would have a copy of the contract as he approved
it too and almost certainly would have given attention to the
inspection clauses, which are critical.

As for stopping payment on the check, if it hasn't cleared that's an
option. If he doesn't have an out to do this under the contract, and
I'm betting he doesn't, then it's up to the other parties to decide if
they want to go to the trouble of filing a lawsuit. Unlikely they
would hire a lawyer, but they could bring one in small claims.

As for proving damages, depending on the circumstances, that could be
very easy. If it takes 3 more months to sell the house for the same
price, or less, then the damages would be the cost to carry the house
for that period plus the difference in sales price. Even if the house
sold the following week for more money, if another realtor represented
the buyer, then this first agent has clearly provable damages in the
loss of the commission.

Here in NJ I had a buyer pull a fast one on me and though it took
awhile, I ended up getting the $3500 deposit, without even going to
court.

There is one other possibility, which is why he should see an attorney
immediately. Some states, NJ being one, have some outs to protect
parties in cases like this. NJ has a 3 day attorney review period,
during which a real estate contract like this may be cancelled by
either party without cause.

In article .com, wrote:

While it's possible, I think it's very unlikely that a realtor would be
so brazen and obvious as to change a contract after it was signed.

Unlikely perhaps, but not unheard of. It happened to me and my wife once. Lots
of ugly legal action resulted.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

In article .com,
wrote:

I am wondering I have a agent that I have some concerns about and I
believe he may of made changes to a house contract with the seller
without my knowledge. He has not cashed my good earnest deposit. If
I stopped payment on the deposit, could the seller go after me?

That should be pretty easy to figure out...what does YOUR copy
of the purchase agreement say? If yours is one way, and his
is different, then something fishy is going on. And if you
didn't get a copy of the purchase agreement when you signed
it, then all we can ask is what were you thinking when you
did that?

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

The copy of the contract clearly shows that I intended to go through
with a general contency but the realator admitted to me that he made
the mistake.

*Update*

I have since told my realtor that I want out of the contract because of
the invalid contract. I have also stopped payment on the check. The
realtor is not trying to let the seller know about his goof up because
he knows he's messed up. I'm not even sure what he is telling the
seller at this point. He did admit to me that he goofed up. Should I
sit and wait or I should speak to an attorney?

writes:

The copy of the contract clearly shows that I intended to go through
with a general contency but the realator admitted to me that he made
the mistake.

*Update*

I have since told my realtor that I want out of the contract because of
the invalid contract. I have also stopped payment on the check. The
realtor is not trying to let the seller know about his goof up because
he knows he's messed up. I'm not even sure what he is telling the
seller at this point. He did admit to me that he goofed up. Should I
sit and wait or I should speak to an attorney?

I'd probably sit and wait if the realtor has admitted their fubaring
the contract. Stopping payment on the check protects your dollars.
Practically a sale simply doesn't happen if the two parties don't come
to terms. I'd probably hold off on attorney stuff but do get one
warmed up for the next go round.

In northern IL here, all our contracts have have a 5 day attorney's
review window built in whereby both parties have the ability to have
the contract reviewed by their own attorney and adjustments made to
pretty much anything but the purchase price.


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

On 31 Mar 2006 12:29:05 -0800, wrote:
The copy of the contract clearly shows that I intended to go through
with a general contency but the realator admitted to me that he made
the mistake.

*Update*

I have since told my realtor that I want out of the contract because of
the invalid contract. I have also stopped payment on the check. The
realtor is not trying to let the seller know about his goof up because
he knows he's messed up. I'm not even sure what he is telling the
seller at this point. He did admit to me that he goofed up. Should I
sit and wait or I should speak to an attorney?


I'm rather curious - how does the realtor explain "mistakingly"
crossing out a crucially important contingency after you had
signed the contract? Sudden epileptic siezure while he
had a pen in his hand? ;-)

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

- Rich

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.

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/

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/

Yea, I have a clean copy of the contract that clearly shows the realtor
crossed it out. I know the contract is not valid. I think the realtor
will try to minimize the situation because once all of this comes out,
his ass will be grass. I was the realtor's second client, so I
believe he did not know what he was doing.

Yea, I have a clean copy of the original contract without the removal
of the general inspection. I know the contract is not valid. I think
the realtor will try to minimize the situation because once all of
this comes out, his ass will be grass. I was the realtor's second
client, so I believe he did not know what he was doing. I will wait
if anything blows up because it may not especially since the amount is
barely above small claims court maximum.

wrote:
Yea, I have a clean copy of the original contract without the removal
of the general inspection.

Is that copy signed by you or just an unsigned original before changes
were made?


I know the contract is not valid. I think
the realtor will try to minimize the situation because once all of
this comes out, his ass will be grass. I was the realtor's second
client, so I believe he did not know what he was doing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but earlier you said that the inspection
contingency section was crossed out and had your initials placed next
to it. How can that be attributed to the realtor not knowing what he
was doing? How does he say it got crossed out and how did your
initials get there? If an agent crossed it out and forged my initials,
I'd be talking to the owner of the realty firm, not the agent. And
then maybe the cops.



I will wait if anything blows up because it may not especially since the amount is
barely above small claims court maximum.

The copy I have is the original signed copy that was sent to the seller
as a bid. The initials were placed there because it was a indication
that I would like that particular contingency. The seller would have to
place his there also to make the contingency official.

I believe there were some sort of negotiation without my knowledge
between the realtor and the seller and then the general inspection
contingency was crossed out. I am not sure if the crossing out with my
initials there was done on purpose or just a plain goof up. I hope it
was the latter. I think the crossed out version was sent to the
seller then the seller signed the contract. The realtor started to
make me suspicious because every time I was saying that I want to back
out, he would try to put pressure on me to keep the deal and even
placed obstacles to try to find excuses to keep the deal as is. Maybe
he knew the deal wasn't good and he was trying to cover his tracks. I
know I could make some serious trouble but at this point I just want to
move on.