Going to court

[longsally111]

What is the name of your state? South Carolina
I am going to court on the 26th of this month and have never sued anyone before. I know to bring copies of all contracts and all communication. I also had several conversations with my real estate agent and she will not be in court. Can I tell the judge about those conversations between she and me? are they admissable? Any advice would be appreciated as am VERY nervous!!!!!

 

[ForFun]

I'll be glad to help if I can, but you haven't provided nearly enough information.

Why are you being sued? What facts led up to the suit? What did your real estate agent tell you?

About the only thing I can tell you at this point is that evidence rules are generally relaxed in small claims court.

 

[longsally111]

here it is

in a nut shell: we had an offer on our home, they sent over the contract with a copy of the ernest money check. we initialed in 2 places and sent it to our agent. The next morning, the buyers agent called and stated that the people were now unsure if they wanted the house and they had family coming in and would discuss it with them. My agent sent back the contract to her. The next day, the people backed out and their agent gave them back their ernest money and sent my agent an e-mail that said that since she told her the day before in the am that the people would more than likely back out and it was before she received back the contract, it was null and void. We are suing the agency for the ernest money, breacj of fudiciary duty. What I guess I cannot tell the judge is that their agent suggested to my agent that they could not afford the house. My agent stated that they provided a letter of preapproval and they did NOT check the contingent upon financing box so that would not release them. Heresay,. right?

 

[ForFun]

...their agent...said that since she told her the day before in the am that the people would more than likely back out and it was before she received back the contract, it was null and void.

Hmmmmm, that does seem like a strange argument. It sounds like an admission that the buyers had not backed out. Clearly, if a buyer may back out in the future, he has not already done so...

What I guess I cannot tell the judge is that their agent suggested to my agent that they could not afford the house. My agent stated that they provided a letter of preapproval and they did NOT check the contingent upon financing box so that would not release them. Heresay,. right?

Whether or not it's hearsay depends on the reason you're using the evidence.

Without going into the intricacies of hearsay, I'll just recommend that you tell the judge whatever you think is helpful. Don't worry about the rules of evidence. The judge knows that you're not an attorney, so if you say something that is not relevant/useful/admissible, he'll ignore it. He's not going to expect you to argue the admissibility of evidence.

 

[longsally111]

we will see.

Thank you for the information. I am going to bring all the copies of all the contracts that went bqck and forth along with a copy of the ernest money check they fax'd over. I am also bringing in the e-mail that was sent the next day with that previous statement on it. I cannot imagine what the agent will argue in court, probably that they cancelled the contract the next day. My argument will be that if that was true, why send the e-mail the next day like they did?

 

[longsally111]

thank you

I just wanted to say thanks for the advice. I went to court today and as it turned out, my agent went as well. I testified and so did she. We will get the judges ruling by mail in a few days. It was cool. I got to cross examine just like an attorney!!!!!!
When the buyers agent got on the stand and stated that we did have a verbal uderstanding but that verbal was not enforcable, I asked her why then would a verbal cancellation be acceptable? If it was enforcable, we would have the ernest money. However, she kept saying that the contract had to go back to her for it to be complete. She admitted on the stand that she had recieved back our contract on 10/25 and sent us the e-mail cancelling on 10/26. Again, we should have gotten the money.

 

[longsally111]

We Won

Just an update, we won in court the entire 1000.00 plus 90.00 court costs. I guess I will give these people 2 weeks to fprk over the money. If they dont, I will turn them into the real estate commission.

 

[ForFun]

Just an update, we won in court the entire 1000.00 plus 90.00 court costs. I guess I will give these people 2 weeks to fprk over the money. If they dont, I will turn them into the real estate commission.

That's excellent!

I'll email you the address for where to send my 33%.

 

[longsally111]

collecting

well, I have to collect first, not sure how to do that yet. How much time do I give these people? They have 30 days to appeal. My agent said that it would be useless for them to do so, and if they did, she thought I could charge interest compounded daily. Is that true?

 

[longsally111]

Wow

we got our money, YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!