Expert: Sue Bernstein - 2/5/2008

Question
Hello. I just closed on a single family house on the 28th of Jan. in Ventura County California. And found the following several things wrong. As the story goes...
1) When we (my Husband and I) signed our purchase agreement/offer and turning it in to the seller's agent we left the line where is says the sellers have to vacate the property (blank) days after closing date blank. We find out after our loan is approved and we received copies of all paperwork that the seller's agent had put in 3 days after closing without notifying us. We let that one slide because... 2) When we were shopping for appliances for our house two weeks before closing we were asking questions about what size of refrigerator will fit in the space provided. After asking that question, the seller's agent emails me that the sellers have decided to leave the refrigerator for us at no charge. Wow! That's great! We thought, we shouldn't raise hell over the 3 days as a token of our appreciation. So the inspection was 1 day before closing and the sellers moved out 4 days after our inspection. When we moved in this weekend we find that the refrigerator is missing and after making a dozen calls to the seller and his agent; his agent now says he will only pay $250 for a fridge we purchased at $1100 because he thinks the value of the old ridge was $500 and it should be split with our agent 50/50. OUTRAGEOUS! 3) Again during our shopping for appliances. We looked over our seller questionnaire paperwork we had received to see what type of laundry hookups are available so we can shop accordingly for a washer and dryer. We found that they had stated there was a 220V hookup in the laundry. Okay, we bought an electric dryer. When we moved in this past weekend and started to hookup our laundry we find that there is no such 220V hookup. Again absolutely PIST!
I want to know what now. What do we do about this and what losses can we recover or should we just say Tough Luck?


Answer
Dear Pam,

I am sorry moving into your new house has not proved to be the enjoyable experience you should have had.  Exactly what did you receive in writing regarding the refrigerator?  If it was all verbal you really have nothing to stand on and you were planning on purchasing a refrigerator anyway. This way you are $250 ahead. Agents cannot alter contracts after you signed it and the 3 day occupancy should have been addressed in a counter offer.  That said, I believe it will be difficult for you to show damages especially in light of the fact that you chose to go along. Where was your agent in all of this? You can probably take the seller to small claims court if you suffered a loss over the 220V hook-up but not if you were able to return the appliance and make it right. What did your inspector show in his/her report regarding 220V?  That is something you probably should have double checked prior to purchase.  Most washer/dryers use regular outlets.  
I hope you find this helpful.  Good luck in your new home.

Sue Bernstein