Seller broke contract on house.

[Hunter Dan]

Not much you can do. You would have to sue them for breach of contract but they have so many possible outs on their side of the contract it would be hard to win a case and very costly. I would let it go.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I would have the lawyer send a nasty letter and demand they reimburse you for any money you've spent in anticipation of the sale.

[RR 314]

Not much you can do. You would have to sue them for breach of contract but they have so many possible outs on their side of the contract it would be hard to win a case and very costly. I would let it go.

With respect, I'm not sure how they have "so many possible outs". There is offer ( with contingency), acceptance, contingency requirement met=enforceable contract. All properties are unique-by definition--and remedy is specific performance of contract. The workplace relationship is the sticky part, but the legal aspect (if described accurately) is simple.

[AXIS_KILLER]

Not much you can do. You would have to sue them for breach of contract but they have so many possible outs on their side of the contract it would be hard to win a case and very costly. I would let it go.

Not true about the outs and not true about winning the case. It might take a while, but you will win, if everything you say is true. And you could sue them for attorney's fees etc., being that they broke a contract. We have been here before. The letter from the attorney did the trick for us. They did not want to get sued and did not have a leg to stand on and they knew it.

Good luck.

[TexaRican]

Ugh, why did I open this thread? We really feel for you. Sold my house June 30, closing July 31. Put a contract on a home with contingency July 5 closing Aug 4. We have been totally stressed out over the whole process and at the same time, busting our rears moving all we own into storage. Fortunately the move is less than 2 miles and in the same neighborhood. My buyer was about to back out on the last day of the option period and changed her mind the next morning before we sent the termination to the title co. My blood pressure is through the roof right now I'm sure.

[Burnadell]

I'm pretty there is a legal term called "specific performance", and you could probably sue to make them perform under the contract, but then...I'm not an attorney. If you sue, it will cost you a lot of legal expenses (but it will also cost the seller also). You might win the battle and lose the war. Like Rod (Atfulldraw) I tend to bow my back and push things too far sometimes. If I were you, I would puff up, bluster, and tell them you are suing for performance under the contract, and you expect the seller to honor the deal/contract she signed. I would go so far as to pay an attorney to wright the requisite demand letter to get her attention and make her think you will take it to the supreme court. When she realizes you are serious, and it will cost her substantial attorney's fees (those blood suckers don't work for free like they should! ), she will most likely cave. If not...then YOU cave!!!

[ck_powell]

Thanks for the advise. It's still early in the game. Still have 4 days left in the option period. We really want the house. It's realy close to work and out of an HOA. We will be closing on our house and possibly homeless on Sep 12. We have sent our request to seller but no word from realtor or seller. I have just avoided the mother at work. I don't want to compromise our situation my saying anything wrong, so I choose not to say anything.

[Sticks&Strings]

As a seller of a house I've been in your shoes. And they had the nerve to ask for money back after they requested I add a fence and termite treatment, about $6000 total. He sent me a letter from an attorney, and I sent one back from mine. Lets just say if you hire a good attorney you will get your way if you are in the right. I had done zero wrong, and my attorney shed light on that for them.

I ended up selling it a month later for $15000 more. Happy trails.

[flatlander]

Thanks for the advise. It's still early in the game. Still have 4 days left in the option period. We really want the house. It's realy close to work and out of an HOA. We will be closing on our house and possibly homeless on Sep 12. We have sent our request to seller but no word from realtor or seller. I have just avoided the mother at work. I don't want to compromise our situation my saying anything wrong, so I choose not to say anything.

That pretty much changes everything.

Option period is usually written to allow either party an out, for whatever reason.

Recently my wife and I had a substantial amount of earnest money down on a house and 4 days into the option period we saw some stuff on the inspection that wasn't thrilling but not really a deal breaker. A PERFECT house came up and we bounced out immediately, no questions asked. We lost the $250 option period money, bit got our earnest money back in a couple weeks with no arguments.

[rferg84]

Thanks for the advise. It's still early in the game. Still have 4 days left in the option period. We really want the house. It's realy close to work and out of an HOA. We will be closing on our house and possibly homeless on Sep 12. We have sent our request to seller but no word from realtor or seller. I have just avoided the mother at work. I don't want to compromise our situation my saying anything wrong, so I choose not to say anything.

That's a little piece of vital information.

My guess is they can opt out just like you can during the option period. Very standard in Texas contracts.

[down2hunt]

Option period is usually written to allow either party an out, for whatever reason.

That is not correct. The buyer is the only one who can terminate the contract during the option period. The only way for the seller to terminate is if the buyer doesn't pay an option fee or if they don't pay it in time as per the contract.

[BIG IRON]

I'm pretty there is a legal term called "specific performance", and you could probably sue to make them perform under the contract, but then...I'm not an attorney. If you sue, it will cost you a lot of legal expenses (but it will also cost the seller also). You might win the battle and lose the war. Like Rod (Atfulldraw) I tend to bow my back and push things too far sometimes. If I were you, I would puff up, bluster, and tell them you are suing for performance under the contract, and you expect the seller to honor the deal/contract she signed. I would go so far as to pay an attorney to wright the requisite demand letter to get her attention and make her think you will take it to the supreme court. When she realizes you are serious, and it will cost her substantial attorney's fees (those blood suckers don't work for free like they should! ), she will most likely cave. If not...then YOU cave!!!

If this doesn't work, request a private meeting at the house, slip into the bathroom and leave em an upper decker. It is harsh but they leave you no choice.

[trad"Doc"53]

Yep, same kind of deal with us. We had our house listed and was looking for another one. We found the one we wanted and set things rolling. In the mean time our house sold and the closing dates worked out to be the same day and same time. We closed on ours and while we were there we were suppose to close on the one we just bought. We actually had folks moving our stuff into the new house as we were signing the paper work. The realtor new before hand that there was a glitch with closing on our house but never said anything until we had signed off on the one we were selling. They said to go ahead and move in that it would be cleared up in a matter of days. 8 months later we had to go into arbitration and lost our buttes. Proceed with caution.

[Boyd1212]

Sell you my house in Rhome.

[TexasJim]

A friend of mine submitted an offer and it was accepted. Then later on the sellers wife calls him leaving a message on his phone and with the realtor saying the process is to much for her husband. If they could back out. Then they said they were backing out. My friend still went along with the paperwork. The seller then responds with 2 weeks to closing that they need to rent the house from him for a few weeks. Due to there other house not being ready and because they couldn't have two houses in their names. Friend says ok and gives amount for the down payment and a amount for prorated time of rent. Seller responds satin the wants to much on deposit and they don't have it. Friend said forget it I want the house on the day of closing. No renting it at all. Long story made short. Closeing tomorrow. Getting the house. Seller upset because they could have gotten more money. Push paper work since you already put money into it. Pray for The Lord to bless you with it if it's ment to be. Friend did that and it worked out. He also got the house with less money out of pocket. God bless you'll!