Expert: Lisa Webber - 8/4/2010

Question
Hi Lisa, I am purchasing a house as a shortsale and we finally received the approval to close prior to 8/30.  The contract with the seller was made sometime in March, 2010 and have several extensions to the contract as we continue waiting on the approval from the bank.  Our latest addendum states that closing should happen by 08/20.  Unfortunately the seller is being difficult and does not want to close untill after the 27th. Due to personal and financial issues I am not able to accomodate their request.  Any suggestions as to what I can do?  Do I have any legal grounds at this point if they do not agree to close and move out before our contract expires on the 20th?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Answer
Hi Jennifer,  AllExperts just sent me a message about your question, so sorry for the delay, I didn't get the initial notification email.

Technically the seller would be in breach of the current contract if the closing doesn't happen by the 20th.  But the problem is it's almost impossible to force someone to close sooner if they can't or don't want to.  In most real estate standard contracts if there is a contract dispute, you are required to go go mediation to try to settle the problem.  You have less than 2 weeks before the 20th so the odds of having any sort of successful mediation by that time is pretty slim.  Short sales can be the most difficult of transactions because of all the variables and extensions while waiting on bank approval.  Many times the sellers are doing the short because they feel like it's the right thing to do but by the time it happens, they are so worn out that they may not really care.  They are losing their house because of reasons they feel are out of their control (adjustable rate mortgage increasing, house value drops so they can't refinance, job loss, etc.). If they don't want to settle until after the 27th, there isn't much you can do.  They may feel like they don't care and since they have the bank approval, they'll just get another buyer. As far as legal routes, read your contract to see how it is written. You could sue the seller for performance and try to get damages, but I don't know that you would be successful or would be able to actually get awarded any.  The seller has to be in really bad shape financially to be given approval to get a short sale.  I wish there was a better answer, but unfortunately if you really want the house and it's a good deal for you, you may want to do whatever it takes to accommodate the later closing. If you aren't going to be in town, you can have the title company overnight the documents to you to sign or you can get a power-of-attorney to sign for you.  There may be another way to work it out so the timing works for you.  I hope this helps - good luck!