Seller's Open Permits preventing close

[bb33301]

Florida Sate

I was suppossed to purchase a property last week and the close was scheduled for the 20th however there were two open permits from a title search. The permits were opened by a previous owner (not the current one) and she has managed to close one but the other is still open. To make matters more complicated the person who opened the permit in 1996 is not a licensed contractor so can not close it.

I am assuming that my real estate contract protects me and the seller must correct these code violations and can not "back out" of the deal because of the time or expense to get these things done? The other complication is the listing agent is the owner's daughter and she occupies the house and does not really want to move so they are not working to an aggressive timeline. How can I make sure that they do not "wait me out" since I think they believe they can sell the house without cleaning the title defects up and without doing the home repairs even though their contract says they agree to pay up to 2% for repairs. I want this house and intend to hold them to the letter of the law but wnat to make sure I have a strong defensable position.

My loan lock expires on the 5-2 so time is of the essence. How can I ensure this gets urgent attention and if I lose my rate, can I make the seller is responsible for the difference?

regards,

Beth