Expert: Jessica Bryan - 10/28/2011

Question
hi there

i have a serious problem at the moment. till last week i was under the impression i have purchased a house, the house was ours as all documentation and final approvements were complete. then we got a call saying the house was sold to the other buyers.

there was a time period they needed to get their money by and they missed it so had an extension of 20 days. the lawyer says they met the deadline of the 20th yet no finalisation papers has been submitted and she refuses to send proof. this is tricky as its 2 estate agents selling. their papers states approval in principle and they have not had their bond yet approved...the laywer wll not answer calls yet we had recieved a letter stating we can contact her at anytime. she throws the phone down and sends threatening sms's. the offer the other buyers made was much less than our offer as well...so why is this not being seeng as null in void contracts if they missed their deadline? can they go ahead on principle papers? and no finals?

Answer
Dear Kel;
First of all when you say that you have bought a house...that means that you have closed and recorded; money has exchanged hands and your loan recorded with the money going to pay off the sellers.  Was all of that already done?  I doubt it.  I think that you are saying that a contract was written and accepted.  That is very different than owning the home.

Did you work with a REALTOR and if so, have you spoken to your REALTOR about this?  I cannot see the contract and therefore have no knowledge of how it was written or if it was a back up offer.  Your attorney can explain it to you.  You cannot expect someone else's attorney to speak with you.  You also have to understand that even though there are dates in a contract unless they are legal dates (meaning they have a legal terminology like "time is of the essence" defining the absolute date) then it is a soft date and can be extended.  I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice but understanding contracts and contract law gives me some insight on what happened.  I know that this is frustrating for you and if you feel like there is some sort of violation of the contract that you have then I would advise that you contact your state real estate commission and ask to speak to an attorney on their staff.  The attorney is there for this purpose -- to help the public in situations that they do not feel are fair or that they do not understand.  Best wishes to you.
Jessica Bryan