HELP! Signed Contract To Close This Week And Seller Being Uncooperative And Unreachable!
I have a property under contract that I also have under an assignment contract, and we are supposed to close this Thurs. Oct 21. The seller has become uncooperative, and will not provide the title company his SS# for the required custody support search (the property is in Philadelphia). The seller is unable to be reached via telephone or email. What do I do?
This seller originally was extremely motivated. Said he had a job and home waiting for him in VA, and couldn't sell the house fast enough. We signed our contract on Sept. 21, giving 30 days to close, and I signed an assignment contract on Oct. 2. We were ready to close before Oct. 21, but the seller starting stalling, and later said there had been a death in the family which changed things a lot and he had "things" to sort out. In the meantime, I know a lot of investors have been pestering him about wanting to buy the property. I know legally he can't sign with another investor, but I'm not in a financial position to sue the seller for non-performance or default of our contract.
Anyone have any advice? Please help.
Nope, the only thing you can really do is sue him. Or if there is an earnest money deposit with the title company, get his earnest money deposit check for breach of contract (going past the settlement date without contract addendum). Get that and be on your way. Once you go past the settlement date, the contract is no longer legal unles there is an addendum.
Devlon:
Do they do things differently in PA that the SELLER puts up an earnest money deposit?
Susan:
Devlon is right, its very difficult to enforce a contract without a suit. Sometimes the threat of a suit can produce some action. See if you can get an attny to at least make a call or write a letter outlining what comes next. You might also record a copy of your contract at the county recorders office along with an affidavit that you have made numberous attempts to contact the seller to arrange closing. This at least makes your "interest" a matter of public record and, depending on PA law (which I am clearly not an expert in) and the title company MAY give you a little leverage if he decides to sell to somebody else soon.
did you use a standard PA contract? if so, the default provisions are spelled out on page 2. you can proceed against him for your actual damages, for specific performance, or accept the amount you filled in as liquidated damages
I'm not sure about the law in your state, but if you do sue, keep in mind that if he decides to appeal, etc., it could be like 4 years before you get a final judgement... unless, that is, you put in a "time is of the essence" clause.
In the very least, record something and cloud his Title.
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Thank you all for your responses. Unfortunately, they all came way too late. I was surprised that it took so long for people to respond to this request for help, as I have always gotten such a prompt response in the past. So many people viewed my message, but no one responded until now. For those of you that did I thank you.
Since today is the day we were to close, I will take the advice of recording my contract at the county recorders office so if he does try to turn around and sell it to someone else shortly, at least he will have some problems. Thank you all!
Commercialking:
Oops, you are right, I typed before I fully thought my thought through. I guess I was thinking that she was the seller and he was the buyer, but I just got mixed up... I think pretty much anywhere in the U.S. buyer puts up EMD... not seller... DUH! Sorry for the inaccurate post!
You can't record the Contract unless it's notarized. If that's your problem, record a Memorandum.
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