Frustrated NJ property buyer being given the shaft

Hi all! Here's my situation...

We were supposed to close on some NJ property back in August. The day before the closing, we found out from our lawyers that the seller's lawyer "forgot" to get the documents for the release of the property from his mortgage company. They estimated that it would take another 4-6 weeks before anything would happen.

Then, a month later, they mailed our lawyer a letter stating that it would take 6-8 weeks (from August) to have this accomplished.

OK. My wife, kids, and I were VERY disappointed, because we sold our large four bedroom home and moved into a tiny apartment thinking that it would be temporary until the house was done.

Well, 8 weeks has come and gone, and the seller isn't returning our calls. We are losing patience and REALLY want the property. We aren't going to give it up. We got a real good deal on it, and it's perfect for us.

We have a contract on the property and also put down a deposit. The verbiage in the contract forbids him from backing out of the sale, but allows us to back out. However, I believe the seller WANTS us to back out so he could turn around and sell the property for more (the property value in my area skyrocketed in the last few months).

WHAT I NEED ADVICE ON: Is there anything I can legally do to get him to move his butt? His mortgage company just has to get the release documentation over to us. That's it! Almost 3 MONTHS for that?!? As far as we know, this is the only delay. How long does it take to do this?

In the mean time our dream house plans are beginning to go down the drain. Our custom builder is becoming impatient (justifiably), and my family is getting increasingly annoyed about living in such tight quarters!

What can I do?!?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks,

Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cmilkosky:
Hi all! Here's my situation...

We were supposed to close on some NJ property back in August. The day before the closing, we found out from our lawyers that the seller's lawyer "forgot" to get the documents for the release of the property from his mortgage company. They estimated that it would take another 4-6 weeks before anything would happen.

Then, a month later, they mailed our lawyer a letter stating that it would take 6-8 weeks (from August) to have this accomplished.

OK. My wife, kids, and I were VERY disappointed, because we sold our large four bedroom home and moved into a tiny apartment thinking that it would be temporary until the house was done.

Well, 8 weeks has come and gone, and the seller isn't returning our calls. We are losing patience and REALLY want the property. We aren't going to give it up. We got a real good deal on it, and it's perfect for us.

We have a contract on the property and also put down a deposit. The verbiage in the contract forbids him from backing out of the sale, but allows us to back out. However, I believe the seller WANTS us to back out so he could turn around and sell the property for more (the property value in my area skyrocketed in the last few months).

WHAT I NEED ADVICE ON: Is there anything I can legally do to get him to move his butt? His mortgage company just has to get the release documentation over to us. That's it! Almost 3 MONTHS for that?!? As far as we know, this is the only delay. How long does it take to do this?

In the mean time our dream house plans are beginning to go down the drain. Our custom builder is becoming impatient (justifiably), and my family is getting increasingly annoyed about living in such tight quarters!

What can I do?!?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks,

Chris<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

What has your attorney been doing about this situation? The attorney should have sent the Seller/attorney a certified demand letter to close by a certain date as time is of the essence. And if the transaction does not close by said date, a comlaint against the Sellers will be filed for specifc performance.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by HomeGuru:
What has your attorney been doing about this situation? The attorney should have sent the Seller/attorney a certified demand letter to close by a certain date as time is of the essence. And if the transaction does not close by said date, a comlaint against the Sellers will be filed for specifc performance. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, my attorney asked me if I'd like to do time is of the essence, but stated that what that would allow me to do is to then exit the contract if we don't close by the said date. Of course, I don't want to exit the contract, I just want to complete it!

I did not know that I could file a complaint for specific performance. If I interpret that correctly, it means that they are not performing as expected in a real estate transaction, yes?

I suppose that will serve as a "shocker" to get the seller to move his behind.

Thank you very much. Unbelievable response time, by the way - thank you.

Thanks,

Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cmilkosky:
Well, my attorney asked me if I'd like to do time is of the essence, but stated that what that would allow me to do is to then exit the contract if we don't close by the said date. Of course, I don't want to exit the contract, I just want to complete it!

I did not know that I could file a complaint for specific performance. If I interpret that correctly, it means that they are not performing as expected in a real estate transaction, yes?

I suppose that will serve as a "shocker" to get the seller to move his behind.

Thank you very much. Unbelievable response time, by the way - thank you.

Thanks,

Chris<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We are fast and free. Well at least free.

I think that your attorney is not advising you of all the facts and remedies. A time is of the essence clause can be a condition that could either terminate the sale by either the Buyer, Seller, both or if closing does not occur by the specified date or extension, the Buyer can sue for specific performance. It would all be dependent on the exact language and conditions stated in the purchase contract.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by HomeGuru:
We are fast and free. Well at least free.

I think that your attorney is not advising you of all the facts and remedies. A time is of the essence clause can be a condition that could either terminate the sale by either the Buyer, Seller, both or if closing does not occur by the specified date or extension, the Buyer can sue for specific performance. It would all be dependent on the exact language and conditions stated in the purchase contract.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm going to review it again myself, and see if there's anything I can extract from it to use to my advantage in this situation. I already contact my lawyer's assistant about the suggestion though, and we'll see what happens.

Thanks again. Believe it or not, those few words you posted brought a little spark of hope back into this thing.

Thanks,

Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cmilkosky:
I'm going to review it again myself, and see if there's anything I can extract from it to use to my advantage in this situation. I already contact my lawyer's assistant about the suggestion though, and we'll see what happens.

Thanks again. Believe it or not, those few words you posted brought a little spark of hope back into this thing.

Thanks,

Chris<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Little spark? I'm trying to get a bonfire going so you can close on your new home real soon.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by HomeGuru:
Little spark? I'm trying to get a bonfire going so you can close on your new home real soon.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Big grin there! We appreciate the advice big time. I'll post back here and let you know what happens.

Thanks,

Chris

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cmilkosky:
Big grin there! We appreciate the advice big time. I'll post back here and let you know what happens.

Thanks,

Chris<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A-ok and keep the fire burnin.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by HomeGuru:
A-ok and keep the fire burnin.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here's the latest -

I finally got through to the Seller. He says (which he has said in the past) that his ex-wife out of spite isn't signing over the deed - she keeps tearing it up. He's been telling us this one for a while now too. He says that he filed for Power of Attorney to get this resolved and that it should take 2-3 weeks to get that. Then it will be another 2-3 weeks to get the mortgage released again.

I tried to trap him in a lie by telling him to have his lawyer draft a memo stating what he told me. He said that he'd do that. We'll see.

No way am I waiting another 4-6 weeks to get this resolved though. Forget it.

I placed my first bid on the property in October of 1999! We were supposed to close in August! This is a joke!

I spoke to my lawyer about the specific performance suggestion, and he said that what he'd like to do is threaten with time is of the essence and then if he doesn't close soon, invoke it, and sue for breech of contract. He suggested that we could bring up the fact that we're losing profit (if we sold the property when we bought it).

I was thinking that our builder could possibly become involved, because he has been waiting in the wings to build our dream house on this property. Is this a possibility?

Thanks,

Chris

Unless the seller has a contract with the builder, he has not contractual obligation to the builder.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by David J. Miller:
Unless the seller has a contract with the builder, he has not contractual obligation to the builder.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

OK - I understand that.

I guess I bring it up because in August, when our house was supposed to get started, the builder had lined up his crew and his subcontractors had set aside time in their schedule to prepare for the work.

A case of some sort can't be built off of that? I don't know...

This is very frustrating. I can't believe the seller of the property and the seller's lawyer haven't communicated to us all the problems they've been having. Why is it that I have to go out of my way (calling 3 times a day - only to get an answering machine) just to get a LITTLE bit of information?

It's crazy.

Thanks for the reply.

Chris