Expert: Dick Dennis - 1/26/2010

Question
I signed a contract with Ryan Homes in August 2009 to purchase a condo that was supposed to be developed in Feb/March 2010.  I deposited $9,044 and we are still waiting for the house to be developed.  Well after I signed my contract, I've been running into a bit of issues.  First issue, we found out our condo won't be finished until April 30th.  Second issue, our sales agent at the time of signing wrote down the wrong upgrade package costing us $1,200 more.  This was a mistake on the sales agent and I don't see why I should have to pay for their mistakes. Third issue, I take the train to work and I told my Realtor that I wanted to find a place close to the train station.  When we asked the sales person how far the train station was, she mentioned that it was less than a mile away.  Well it isn't a mile away; it's 3.7 miles away. I trusted my real estate agent and the sales agent but now I regret not doing my own research.  Fourth issue, my wife and I recently visited our quarter complete condo.  We noticed that our front was facing a brick wall and the distance from the entrance to the brick wall was 6 feet.  The drawing they had at the model home did not show a brick wall.  The sales person didn't mention a brick wall either. The most unethical part about this is that our set of condos are the last condos to be developed in the community.  During our pre-contruction meeting with the Project Manager, he quickly showed us lot while he was smoking a cigarette and talking on the phone.  If I had know the entrance was facing a brick wall, I would've disputed then.  My question to you is, can we still cancel our contract and get our deposit money back?

Thank you for your help.  Any insight you can provide will be very appreciated.

Answer
You've been very patient, Jae, . . . and naive. Sometimes being patient allows the other party to take advantage of you. And that is exactly what they have done. Because they have not lived up to their end of the contract, send them a letter, certified mail, signature required, that you want your deposit returned. Otherwise, you will have your attorney take care of this matter. Be sure you find yourself a good real estate attorney. And have that attorney send a letter of request for return of your deposit. Chances are very good that you will get a satisfactory response. I do wish you well, Jae.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com