My liability

[jkwest]

What is the name of your state? NJ

What is my liability to the following contract. I went into contract to purhcase a home with a clause they put in "not contingent of my house sale".THe contract on the sale of my home fell through so we broke the contract. We have $1000 down and left $12000 of appliances at the new home which they will not return. What is our exposure of liabilty? He has had other people that want the house but they won't go into a contract that has that same clause in it.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by jkwest

What is the name of your state? NJ

What is my liability to the following contract. I went into contract to purhcase a home with a clause they put in "not contingent of my house sale".THe contract on the sale of my home fell through so we broke the contract. We have $1000 down and left $12000 of appliances at the new home which they will not return. What is our exposure of liabilty? He has had other people that want the house but they won't go into a contract that has that same clause in it.

**A: what did your Realtor tell you concerning your liability? And why would you deliver $12K appliances to a home that you do not own?

[jkwest]

Mistake, it was $1,200 worth of appliances. The builder told us we had to put the dishwasher in right away so he can run a well test. Also just a microwave. The seller said they may sue us for damages but they won't respond even saying we are keeping the appliances or not. Their attorney made the remark to ours that they are keeping them.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by jkwest

THe contract on the sale of my home fell through so we broke the contract.

Pretty simple. You breached the contract without any justification or 'waiver'. Unless something to the contrary in your agreement, you lose the earnest money.

As for the $1200 in 'appliances', if they are now a part of the 'built-ins', then you may or may not have a claim for compensation. You would have to read your agreement and any addendums that might apply to your 'buyer provided materials'.

He has had other people that want the house but they won't go into a contract that has that same clause in it.

That is because anyone who currently owns a property that must be sold PRIOR to their closing on the new house, and who has a modicum of intelligence would NEVER, EVER sign that contract without a 'contingency clause' to protect them.

[jkwest]

Additionally, in case this helps, the contract asked us to provide a commitment for a mortgage like standard contracts. We provided a comittment for only the amount we would need to take if we sold our house. They accepted that. When we found out we lost the sale of our home our mortgage broker provided a letter that stated that we could not get a mortgage for the entire amount of this new home while we have our current mortgage. Does this help us in anyway? And do you think we are liable for anything additionally then what we have put out so far? We can accept that, we just want to be prepared if they can come after us for more money. Thanks for all your help so far.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by jkwest

Does this help us in anyway?

Nope. The problem is... without the 'contingency clause' on the sale of your house (the one that everyone else refused to sign without), your sale falling through has NO impact on your contractual obligation to complete the purchase of the property.

And do you think we are liable for anything additionally then what we have put out so far?

Without some provision in the contract to limit your losses (some contracts stipulate your only loss is the earnest money), you could be found liable for ANY damages that the seller incurs due to your breach... including the difference in sales price if they have to sell for less.

[jkwest]

does this help or hurt us? the sellers realtor told my wife to sign the non contingent contract for me .. I never signed the contract he told her to sign my name to it {forge it}it will be ok will this null and void the contract or is this even worse because she forged my name to it at the sellers request thanks for the help....

[JETX]

Originally Posted by jkwest

does this help or hurt us? the sellers realtor told my wife to sign the non contingent contract for me .. I never signed the contract he told her to sign my name to it {forge it}it will be ok will this null and void the contract or is this even worse because she forged my name to it at the sellers request thanks for the help....

You can certainly deny signing the contract and if the court agrees, you obligation could be released. However, that wouldn't waive your wifes obligation to purchase since her signature IS valid.

[jkwest]

Thanks for your help. We are going to offer the builder to keep the $1000 and the $1200 in appliances and a few other additonal things like ceiling fans that we purchased and dropped off at the house to try and settle the matter. My attorney has informed us that the appliances are still ours and does not become property of the seller. They have already taken pictures of the appliances and show them on their website as part of the house package.