Buyer's rights to terminate after inspection

[fmon]

What is the name of your state? NJ

The inspection contingency specifically states "structural and environmental defects".

The buyer's inspection report listed issues of this nature and several that, in our opinion (mine, lawyer's, agents) were not. The buyer insisted that *all* defects be corrected. We agreed to correct the ones we considered "stuctural and environmental" but denied the ones we deemed "improvements".

Assuming our opinion is correct, would the buyer be violating the contract by withdrawing?

My laywer, my father (also a lawyer), not to mention several friends and aquaintences (I know... irrelevant... just trying to show overwelming support!) think we are entitled to damages due to the liquidation clause in the contract.

CAVEAT: Neither my lawyer nor my father (nor my friends for that matter) are realestate law specialists.

I am not a fan of litigation however we feel the buyer is not honoring the spirit of the contract and may cause us real financial losses. Specifically the lawyer fee for this transaction. It was also a very strong bid that caused us to turn away 3 other over-asking bids and as a result the house has been off the market for about a month thus missing the "meat" of the current sales cycle (off for a month between dealing with the inspection and beginning the corrections to put it on the market again with a decent disclosure report).

Bottom line, under what circumstances (given what I said about "physical defects or environmental conditions") can a buyer terminate? How much lattitude is there in these definitions?

[BradleyS]

Buyer makes repair request = counter offer
Seller accepts = binding agreement
Seller rejects = no contract
Seller or Buyer does not comply with binding agreement = breach of contract

"Structual and Environmental Defects"?????? Pretty BROAD statement....

What type language is in the contract about the inspection process and repair of defects?

That clause will contain your answer....in black and white.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by fmon

What is the name of your state? NJ

The inspection contingency specifically states "structural and environmental defects".

The buyer's inspection report listed issues of this nature and several that, in our opinion (mine, lawyer's, agents) were not. The buyer insisted that *all* defects be corrected. We agreed to correct the ones we considered "stuctural and environmental" but denied the ones we deemed "improvements".

Assuming our opinion is correct, would the buyer be violating the contract by withdrawing?

My laywer, my father (also a lawyer), not to mention several friends and aquaintences (I know... irrelevant... just trying to show overwelming support!) think we are entitled to damages due to the liquidation clause in the contract.

CAVEAT: Neither my lawyer nor my father (nor my friends for that matter) are realestate law specialists.

I am not a fan of litigation however we feel the buyer is not honoring the spirit of the contract and may cause us real financial losses. Specifically the lawyer fee for this transaction. It was also a very strong bid that caused us to turn away 3 other over-asking bids and as a result the house has been off the market for about a month thus missing the "meat" of the current sales cycle (off for a month between dealing with the inspection and beginning the corrections to put it on the market again with a decent disclosure report).

Bottom line, under what circumstances (given what I said about "physical defects or environmental conditions") can a buyer terminate? How much lattitude is there in these definitions?

**A: get to the point and tell us something that is relevant. What exactly are the specific items that the Buyer is claiming to be structural and environmental defects?

[fmon]

Among the ones we said we would not fix:

- Small rust spots on oven door trim. We offered to clean and touchup with rustoleum (they are *really* small spots).
- Some rusty spots seen on ductwork below house. No evidence that the rust has gone through.
- Add ventilation fan to 1st floor bathroom
- Small amount of old black mold was seen on underside of old shake roof (since covered with asphalt shingles). We offered to remediate block mold using licensed mold specialist. Buyer wanted entire roof replaced.
- Current dinning room used to be breezway (remodling done 2 owners ago). Crawlspace under that room is 1/2 the depth of the main crawlspace. Buyer insisted we excevate the area to facilitiate any future work/repairs. True it's a tight fit but there is enough area to get in there and look around.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by fmon

Among the ones we said we would not fix:


- Small rust spots on oven door trim. We offered to clean and touchup with rustoleum (they are *really* small spots).

**A: you are contradicting yourself. Are you going to fix this or not?
********
- Some rusty spots seen on ductwork below house. No evidence that the rust has gone through.

**A: then why not take care of it?
********

- Add ventilation fan to 1st floor bathroom


**A: why was this requested, you did not say? IS there no natural ventilation ie. windows in this bathroom? Or perhaps inadequate ventilation?
********
- Small amount of old black mold was seen on underside of old shake roof (since covered with asphalt shingles). We offered to remediate block mold using licensed mold specialist. Buyer wanted entire roof replaced.


**A: and what did the home inspector say about the condition of the roof?
***********
- Current dinning room used to be breezway (remodling done 2 owners ago). Crawlspace under that room is 1/2 the depth of the main crawlspace. Buyer insisted we excevate the area to facilitiate any future work/repairs. True it's a tight fit but there is enough area to get in there and look around.

**A: did you get a building permit for the remodeling and was all work done to code?

[fmon]

- Small rust spots on oven door trim. We offered to clean and touchup with rustoleum (they are *really* small spots).

**A: you are contradicting yourself. Are you going to fix this or not?
********

Sorry... they asked us to replace the entire oven door.

- Some rusty spots seen on ductwork below house. No evidence that the rust has gone through.

**A: then why not take care of it?
********

They asked us to replace ductwork which we considered out-of-line for the condition noted on the inspection report (which was to monitor the condition)

- Add ventilation fan to 1st floor bathroom


**A: why was this requested, you did not say? IS there no natural ventilation ie. windows in this bathroom? Or perhaps inadequate ventilation?

There is a window in the bathroom. Inadequate? Who's to say? Seems hard to argue this is an evironmental or structural issue rather than a straight improvement.

- Small amount of old black mold was seen on underside of old shake roof (since covered with asphalt shingles). We offered to remediate block mold using licensed mold specialist. Buyer wanted entire roof replaced.


**A: and what did the home inspector say about the condition of the roof?
***********

There is a small leak which we are fixing. He said that this kind of mold was always found on shake roofs of this era. He had no other comments in the report about the roof.

- Current dinning room used to be breezway (remodling done 2 owners ago). Crawlspace under that room is 1/2 the depth of the main crawlspace. Buyer insisted we excevate the area to facilitiate any future work/repairs. True it's a tight fit but there is enough area to get in there and look around.


**A: did you get a building permit for the remodeling and was all work done to code?

The work was done in the 60's. I was not given any documentation other than blueprints. There was no language in the buyer's request that indicated this was to bring the building up to code... it was worded in such a way that indicated it was being requested as an improvement.

[HomeGuru]

OK, time to get an attorney.

[fmon]

Originally Posted by HomeGuru

OK, time to get an attorney.

Which brings us back to "doe" (a deer, a female deer). (i.e. read the first letter... i was asking for a second opinion on my lawyer's advice).

Really I was just asking about precident/merit given that that attorney is not a real-estate specialist.

Anyway... we have new offers from our second round of showings so this may all be academic soon. We have minor "damages" we intended to levy against the deposit (e.g. lawyer's fees for the transaction since we claim the buyer breeched the contract).