Expert: Jessica Bryan - 6/4/2006

Question
I made an offer on a house.  The house was forclosed on and is owned by a bank.  The bank made me a counter offer which I agreed to and signed the offer and sent it back to my realtor who in turn sent it to the realtor for the bank.
Two days later the bank countered their own offer and raised the price of the house $2000.00, I didn't understand why they did it, I was told banks  can do what they want.  I signed the counter offer and sent it back.  The following week I called my realtor and she told me she received a fax from the realtor representing the bank and was it stated they had taken another offer.  Do I have a legal standpoint in this?  I am totally confused about what happened.  I thought after they offered me a counter offer the house would be mine.  Can you offer any advise?

Answer
Hello;
I am finally back online!  My computer crashed and I have a huge amount of email to answer.  However, if you would still like an answer to your question I will be happy to answer within a few days…trying to get to the earliest ones first.  Please understand and if you promise not to dock me on my "response time" scores I will be happy to help you.

Thanks for your understanding.

Jessica Bryan
Managing Broker
House to Home Realty Services
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Hi Diann;
Thanks for your patience!  Here is my answer:
A contract is a contract.  If you sign a counter-offer and it is delivered to the agent for the seller it is a legal contract which both parties have signed.  I don't know if the counter offer was signed by the bank--which is the only reason I can think of that they changed the terms. Often, agreements are made verbally and there is no legal enforcement of these. Everything must be in writing but with both sides signing and dating the signatures, there can be no changes unless mutually agreed upon.  It appears that you might have been given some bad advice and signed something without understanding your legal rights or the legalities of the contract.  Again, all I can think of is that there were offers and counter offers that were signed by you but not the bank.  Of course, they have the right to sell to someone else until all parties have signed a contract. There is nothing illegal about that. Next time, insist that the counter offer be put in writing (with numbers crossed out, changed, initialled and dated on the face of the contract) before you sign.
I am sorry that this happened and that you were left confused as to what happened.
Sincerely,
Jessica Bryan