Contract agreement after closing

[yzenup]

(California) In the purchase contract, there was an agreement to repair a floor so that there were no squeaks. Work was done on the floor, the squeak was reduced, but not eliminated. During the final walk through, the buyer said that it was acceptable. The buyer also filled out a Verification of Property Condition (Buyer Final Inspection) form, and the only exception was not related to the squeaky floor. Now, three weeks after the closing of escrow, the buyer's realtor is calling the seller and telling the seller that the original contract said that the floor had to be repaired so that there were no squeaks, and the realtor is telling the seller that the seller must fix the floor. Does the seller have to fix the floor? Based on what legal argument? Thanks for your help.

 

[HomeGuru]

Read your contract docs. If the contract stated that there would be no squeaks and the Buyer did not expressly sign off accepting the floor after completion of the work, the contingency in the contract has not been met.
Your Realtor should have included in the walk-through form "sqeaking floor repaired and is acceptable to Buyer", Buyer signs, and end of story.

 

[yzenup]

Yes, the realtor did check-off that the squeaky floor was acceptable to the buyer. So that's it. Thanks for the information ! !

 

[HomeGuru]

Wait a minute; the Buyer needed to sign off on this item, not the Realtor. The Realtor is not a party to the contract although all the parties and escrow may have accepted the sign-off by Realtor acting in the capacity as agent for the Buyer.