Cancelling a contract by seller in the middle of escrow due to seller beeing laid off from work
I am 74 years and was laid off from work in the middle of an escrow. I intended to sell my house with the purpose of buying a larger house. Now that I have no income, I cannot afford to sell the house which is fully paid for to buy another one. The buyer is a realtor who wanted to buy the house as an investment - a rental property.
Can I possibly cancel the sale contract and what would be the repurcussions; can the buyer take me to court, and if not, what kind of compensation do I have to pay? Please help; I am desperate; I do not want to end up paying rent and loosing the money from the sale.
Joe,
Sorry to hear about your job loss. Yes, you could talk to an attorney who would advise you regarding the contractual obligations but I would encourage you to just explain the situation to the buyer/agent. Most of us are human, too. ;- ) I had a similar situation occur with a seller and the buyer was disappointed but understanding. If it's an investment property they likely have no emotional attachment. If they've already done inspections or the appraisal the buyer will be out those amounts and may me inclined to be more understanding if you reimburse them those expenses.
Best of luck!
With Your Success in Mind,
Shar Rundio
Keller Williams Integrity First Realty
480.560.7255
Twitter: @SharRundio
Joe
I am confused.
it almost sounds like you are being taken advantage.
First, if you lost your job, depending upon where you are in the sale process, you may or may not be able to cancel the sale. However, I would suggest contacting a real estate attorney. Not everyone is money-grubbing. It is possible that you could explain to the buyer that you were laid off and can not longer sell, and hopefully they understand.
if they are uncooperative, then in most legal negotiations money makes problems go away. IOW, you may need to pay them some sort of "damages fee" so they will agree not to force you to sell.
Joe,
From your question I can assume that you are not being represented by a seller's agent. Without looking at your contract and any potential addendums it is hard to tell. If you didn't take any additional precautions in the contract you might be out of luck. The buyer might be ablet to take you to court and sue you for specific performance and force you to sell, in additional to that you might have to cover all his attorneys fees and other expenses.
I will strongly advice you to discuss the situation with the seller, who is probably very aware of the consequences and what the contracts entitle him to - since he is an agent. Hopefully you can reach an agreement with him that will be beneficial for both. Since you are unrepresented you might want to hire a lawyer to help you if things get more complicated.
Good luck!
Carlos J. Ramirez, PC, ABR, CNE
Associate Broker, HomeSmart -
http://www.SmartAZRealty.com
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