Is closing date really a moving target in NY (rent, movers)

[Newtony]

Hello everyone - as we are nearing the closing date of our NY house I keep hearing more and more that the sellers can decide at the last minute that they do not want to close on July 1st and we cannot do anything as long as the new date is within 30 days of the original.

Is this true???

Is there any recourse - we have movers/packers planned, air tickets bought, hotel reservations made.....basically we will loss a lot of money if this thing does not happen on the said date.

What is the "Time of Essence" clause - when can it be invoked etc,

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[morefromcali]

Hi,

I believe that if they change the closing date on you, they have to pay to house you and store your stuff since you have a contract with a closing date listed. The laws in NY may be different, but you should at least explore the possibility. Good luck and I'm sorry that the sellers are adding stress to an already stressful time for you!

[mom2gurls]

When we bought our home..the new owners were moving into a new home too..so it was very very tricky to coordinate to accomodate the sellers. Our lawyer (and double check)..told us that if we wanted to be sticklers, if they didnt close when they said that they would, they would have to pay us rent and other expenses. The night before the closing, we did our final walkthru with the realtor(I reccomend it if you can)..and the garage door was busted when we tried to open it. So we relayed that to our lawyer who contacted their lawyer and they gave us a set amount of money to have repaired...we go the check and cashed it before we went into closing.

We were more flexible because we lived here and in NY with my in-laws so we could be nicer. But in your case..GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING AND TALK TO YOUR LAWYER about the delays aspect. There should be no headache or hassle on your end..and try and do that final walkthru and test every single thing.

I was upset (and hindsight is 20/20) but we assumed (I know I know) that if something was bolted down on the property it would be included in the contract. Well imagine my surprise after we got the keys to the house, walked in and found that they had removed all the electrical outlet covers and managed to dissassemble the wooden swingset that was bolted in the ground and take the woodburning stove and the water softner too..all withing 24 hours of giving us the keys. I am surprised they left us the big tree in the front yard! LOL

But we had closed so there was nothing that we could do. Now I know for the next time around...make sure you put everything even something that you wouldnt think of in the contract.

[rug city]

Usually closing dates are "on or about" which gives sellers much wiggle room. I've had 2 very unpleasant home closing experiences because of this and there really isn't much you can do about it. Until you are approaching that on or about date and the date is actually set by the lawyers you may have to just suck it up and "find a way" as I was told. I ended up asking the sellers if I could move all of our stuff into their garage (they had very large garages) and then I had to move in with friends until the closing.

[nomoresnow]

We had our closing date set, had stopped by and talked to the owners several times during the week prior to the closing and told them we would be moving in as soon as the papers were signed. The morning of the closing, the owners had barely moved anything. "We didn't think you'd get the money." GMAFB! DH showed up at the house a little later, and they said they'd be out in a week. Don't think so. Our house was sold, too, and the young couple were ready to move in also. Hubby exploded and almost gave the lady a heart attack. "As of 2:00 this afternoon, this f**in' house is ours, and you WILL be out of it!" YOu should have seen the look on her face! "Oh, but I have to clean it." "No, you don't! We will be moving in immediately after the closing." Surprise - they didn't come to the closing; had signed all the papers at their lawyer's office. We were moving things in the front door as they were moving things out the back.

[lbsing]

We were told "on or about" as well. Our closing is in July. But, we have planne for it to be "on or about". Not much we can do about it. Strange though!

[Chella]

and read the contract.. see if it says on or about that will determine if the seller has the room to move dates.

[Newtony]

but we have added a clause that says the sellers will have to pay us $x if they do not close within 48 hours of the listed date. So atleast they will be financially impacted if they delay this.

Thanks for your replies.