Dealing with old contract

[Longsally1112]

In South Carolina. We found a home and put in an offer along with Ernest money check, pre approval letter etc......We are all set to go..and then we were told that closing might take longer that usual because there was a previous contract on the house that expired last Friday. That confused me and when I asked, I was told that it was an attorney who wanted the home, that there was a contingency contract (contingent on inspection), that they never closed on the home, that they contacted him last week by e-mail and told him that if he didn't close by 5 pm Friday that his contract would expire (as it had been 6 months) and he did not sign a "release". I don't know why he would have to sign one if the contract expired. If they take our offer, doesn't that mean that the previous buyer is out of it since his contract expired? Why does that affect us?

 

[Taxing Matters]

Just because they accepted your offer doesn't mean that the attorney who had the previous contract doesn't still have rights under that contract. The sellers might have put themselves in a bind where they could potentially now breach a contract with someone no matter what they do.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The problem here is that you nor we have seen the original contract. If you want out of this little deal just have them hand you back everything.

If you are willing to wait a while to get the house you can do that as well.

 

[Longsally1112]

Just because they accepted your offer doesn't mean that the attorney who had the previous contract doesn't still have rights under that contract. The sellers might have put themselves in a bind where they could potentially now breach a contract with someone no matter what they do.

so even though this man didn't close on the house in the 6 months allowed and his contract has expired, he still has rights to the home?

 

[Zigner]

so even though this man didn't close on the house in the 6 months allowed and his contract has expired, he still has rights to the home?

Nobody said he did (or didn't). Nobody here (including you) is privy to the other contract.

 

[Taxing Matters]

so even though this man didn't close on the house in the 6 months allowed and his contract has expired, he still has rights to the home?

You don't know the terms of that other contract unless you've read it. Even if they think the contract expired, the other buyer may not think so. How clear it is that the contract is expired depends on the specific terms of that contract. And the contracts for the sale of real estate are not all the same.

 

[Longsally1112]

You don't know the terms of that other contract unless you've read it. Even if they think the contract expired, the other buyer may not think so. How clear it is that the contract is expired depends on the specific terms of that contract. And the contracts for the sale of real estate are not all the same.

I only know what the other agent told our agent..and that is that he was to close by this past Friday, that the house was under contingency contract x 6 months, that the contingency was an inspection which he did, they notified him last week to close by Friday or his contract will expire (by the date on the contract). Assuming that the info is correct, what other claim could he have?

 

[Taxing Matters]

I only know what the other agent told our agent..and that is that he was to close by this past Friday, that the house was under contingency contract x 6 months, that the contingency was an inspection which he did, they notified him last week to close by Friday or his contract will expire (by the date on the contract). Assuming that the info is correct, what other claim could he have?

I've not read the contract so I don't know if he has any right to the home under the contract at this point. And apparently the sellers are not 100% confident that he doesn't have any claim either or they'd not be holding things up because of it.

 

[quincy]

I only know what the other agent told our agent..and that is that he was to close by this past Friday, that the house was under contingency contract x 6 months, that the contingency was an inspection which he did, they notified him last week to close by Friday or his contract will expire (by the date on the contract). Assuming that the info is correct, what other claim could he have?

Your agent is in a better position than anyone here is to tell you what is going on with the previous contingent offer. I would rely on the agent to tell you what you want to know.

 

[Longsally1112]

update::::: we have found out that the previous buyer REFUSED TO CLOSE on the contract because he was trying to put stipulations on the seller's other land for sale. He refused to close by the deadline and was notified in writing that his contract had expired. He has now hired an attorney and filed a Liz pens (spelling, sorry) and has until next Friday to file his lawsuit. Sellers attorney responded by telling his attorney they the seller "bent over backwards for him and he missed the timeline to close MULTIPLE times, REFUSING to close the last time and since his contract expired they are going with another buyer" (that explains why the house was under contract x 6 months). Now we will wait to see if he files the lawsuit. I was told by our real estate attorney (who is in contact with the sellers attorney) that after looking at all the documents, the original buyer really doesn't have a case BUT he could still hold up the sale of the house for 12-14 months while the case is in court. I told them that we live in a nice home that doesn't have to be sold before we can buy and every mortgage payment made is for our benefit so we are ok to wait it out of that happens. Our attorney said it is a "bully" tactic because he will probably go to the sellers in 6 months and tell them he will drop the lawsuit if they will let him buy now. He also said the sellers family is now adamant that they will not sell to him. Guess we will wait and see what happens.

 

[quincy]

“Lis pendens” is legalese for “pending suit.” Its purpose is to notify others that title to certain property is being litigated.

Thank you for the update, Longsally.

 

[Longsally1112]

Update: he filed the lawsuit and claims that the house and land were misrepresented...not sure what he means...they have mediation in July which won’t work because sellers do not want man to have the house...guess a judge will decide...what a mess

 

[quincy]

Thank you for the update.

I agree it sounds to be a mess.

 

[LdiJ]

Update: he filed the lawsuit and claims that the house and land were misrepresented...not sure what he means...they have mediation in July which won’t work because sellers do not want man to have the house...guess a judge will decide...what a mess

I know that you feel like you have time to wait, but this attorney is obviously going to hold things up as long as possible.

 

[Longsally1112]

We were told that this was a bully tactic and he was going to stall them. The thing is this Family has another 91 acres to sell and he filed against that as well so they can’t sell any of their property at all. If this turns out to be a frivolous lawsuit because he really does not have a case, I hope they report him to the Bar Association....