Selling a house nightmare ...HELP!! (Corvallis, Albany: real estate, eviction, lawyer)

[GiaB]

Hi, I'm Georgia, I'm new to web forums, but a friend told me this may help. So here goes.

I live in Oregon and put my house on the market in August of 07. I got an interested buyer, he waived inspection and put down 25,000 in earnest money. Yeah, nice, too good to be true. Every time it came to the signing day, he was not there for one reason or another. The 2nd time he did this, he released 10,000 of the earnest money so I could move. He wanted me out on the day of the next agreed signing, which was Oct. 22.

I rented a place and moved out by October 22nd as I said I would do, but he failed to sign again after I spent most of the 10k on moving expenses. My realtor gave him the nessessary paper work to sign a termination agreement via E-Mail and relinquish the rest of the earnest money but he has yet to return the paper work.

Now as far as the earnest money, how do I go about collecting it if he's not available to sign or won't sign the paperwork so that the money can be released to me?

Is there a time limit on how long escrow can keep the money? The only thing my realtor said was "you need to hire yourself a good attorney".

I don't have money to fight this thats why I was selling my house in the 1st place .. Yeesh!!
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[casey1996]

Originally Posted by GiaB

Hi, I'm Georgia, I'm new to web forums, but a friend told me this may help. So here goes.

I live in Oregon and put my house on the market in August of 07. I got an interested buyer, he waived inspection and put down 25,000 in earnest money. Yeah, nice, too good to be true. Every time it came to the signing day, he was not there for one reason or another. The 2nd time he did this, he released 10,000 of the earnest money so I could move. He wanted me out on the day of the next agreed signing, which was Oct. 22.

I rented a place and moved out by October 22nd as I said I would do, but he failed to sign again after I spent most of the 10k on moving expenses. My realtor gave him the nessessary paper work to sign a termination agreement via E-Mail and relinquish the rest of the earnest money but he has yet to return the paper work.

Now as far as the earnest money, how do I go about collecting it if he's not available to sign or won't sign the paperwork so that the money can be released to me?

Is there a time limit on how long escrow can keep the money? The only thing my realtor said was "you need to hire yourself a good attorney".

I don't have money to fight this thats why I was selling my house in the 1st place .. Yeesh!!
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Georgia,
You have been scammed big time! Your realtor should NEVER have let you move out without escrow closing. Once the buyer didn't sign the 1st time, the contract was null and void, and your earnest money should have been returned to you immediately. And when he released $10,000 of your earnest money, it should have been obvious to your realtor that no way this guy was going to perform. You are due this money now, because he defaulted on the contract. He hasn't moved into your house, has he?? Because he doesn't own it!! Does he have a realtor? You have a case against everyone involved, including your realtor. I'd call the title company to see what they suggest, and I'd call an attorney just to explain your situation. And quite frankly I'd call the police.

Good luck. This is awful!!

[goozer]

Originally Posted by casey1996

Georgia,
You have been scammed big time! Your realtor should NEVER have let you move out without escrow closing. Once the buyer didn't sign the 1st time, the contract was null and void, and your earnest money should have been returned to you immediately. And when he released $10,000 of your earnest money, it should have been obvious to your realtor that no way this guy was going to perform. You are due this money now, because he defaulted on the contract. He hasn't moved into your house, has he?? Because he doesn't own it!! Does he have a realtor? You have a case against everyone involved, including your realtor. I'd call the title company to see what they suggest, and I'd call an attorney just to explain your situation. And quite frankly I'd call the police.

Good luck. This is awful!!

I'm confused by this post becuase I understood that the OP (the seller) did not give over any money and that the buyer put up $25k in earnest money. It sounds like the OP (seller) has already gotten $10k for her troubles and is in a position to, as you say, declare the contract null and void. She might have a claim to the remaining $15k, but it's not always easy to get. OP could hire an attorney and maybe they could strike a settlement for $7k or so. Bottom line is that the OP is back where she started -- the owner of a house that she wants to sell. And while she lost a potential buyer, she was fortunate to come out a little richer for it. With luck, she can find another buyer soon and hopefully the forfeited earnest money that she has recieved will compensate her for her troubles.

[kstutler]

Does your realtors office have the escrow or the buyers? Call your local trouble shooter and get it in the news. Your Realtor should still be fighting for you that is their job and there office should also be representing you. Just one more reason I am glad to be out of the business. I would contact an attorney and make sure the lawyer is a consumer protection lawyer that deals in real estate.

[DavePautsch]

A couple of quick points if I may:
The Escrow company is bound by the agreement and can't release money without the agreement of both parties (hence the need for a termination agreement to allow them to release the forfeited earnest money per the contract). A friend of mine describes "escrow" as a legless, armless head...they don't have the power to do anything.
Contact the Oregon Real Estate Agency (State of Oregon: Real Estate Agency) they may be able to give you advice.
I agree with goozer, this sucks, but you are still in the same position you were when you started.
If you still like and trust YOUR realtor, get your house back on the market and find another buyer with them...take a hard look at your price to make sure it is still well-positioned in the current market place (depending on what has gone on in your local market since you started).
The bigger question to me is WHY would your buyer have done this? They haven't done anything that gives them any advantage or gain...it's actually COST them money. Casey asks the right question...has he MOVED IN TO YOUR HOUSE? If he has NOT; no problem. If he HAS, start the eviction process right now!

I have a local real estate radio show in the mid-Willamette Valley (Albany,Lebanon, Corvallis area). If this is some sort of scam, I'd be happy to try and get the story some radio exposure; but I'd need you send me some additional details (perhaps by private message).

Dave

[GiaB]

The escrow company is a third party and Dave is right, they are only a head they can't do anything , as much as they want to .. They are very sympathetic , but they have not a voice in this matter they can't even tell me what steps to take to get the rest of the earnest money.. The real messed up thing about all this is that the buyer took up a whole summer of prime time for selling my home and now the market has dropped I went to put it back on the selling market and the same realtor says my house is worth $120,000 less then what I was going to get from the buyer.. Not to mention it was appraised two months ago for 550.000 now she is telling me I can only get 425K for it now. The house is vacant he never signed the papers to close the buyer is in the middle of a messy divorce I think he was told by his attorney not to buy at this time. He has now disappeared and no where to be found.

[GiaB]

Originally Posted by DavePautsch

A couple of quick points if I may:
The Escrow company is bound by the agreement and can't release money without the agreement of both parties (hence the need for a termination agreement to allow them to release the forfeited earnest money per the contract). A friend of mine describes "escrow" as a legless, armless head...they don't have the power to do anything.
Contact the Oregon Real Estate Agency (State of Oregon: Real Estate Agency) they may be able to give you advice.
I agree with goozer, this sucks, but you are still in the same position you were when you started.
If you still like and trust YOUR realtor, get your house back on the market and find another buyer with them...take a hard look at your price to make sure it is still well-positioned in the current market place (depending on what has gone on in your local market since you started).
The bigger question to me is WHY would your buyer have done this? They haven't done anything that gives them any advantage or gain...it's actually COST them money. Casey asks the right question...has he MOVED IN TO YOUR HOUSE? If he has NOT; no problem. If he HAS, start the eviction process right now!

I have a local real estate radio show in the mid-Willamette Valley (Albany,Lebanon, Corvallis area). If this is some sort of scam, I'd be happy to try and get the story some radio exposure; but I'd need you send me some additional details (perhaps by private message).

Dave

Im not sure it was a scam, I now know the realtor was working on both our behalfs, but I would like to talk with you in private e-mail how could I go about doing that?

[GiaB]

Originally Posted by casey1996

Georgia,
You have been scammed big time! Your realtor should NEVER have let you move out without escrow closing. Once the buyer didn't sign the 1st time, the contract was null and void, and your earnest money should have been returned to you immediately. And when he released $10,000 of your earnest money, it should have been obvious to your realtor that no way this guy was going to perform. You are due this money now, because he defaulted on the contract. He hasn't moved into your house, has he?? Because he doesn't own it!! Does he have a realtor? You have a case against everyone involved, including your realtor. I'd call the title company to see what they suggest, and I'd call an attorney just to explain your situation. And quite frankly I'd call the police.

Good luck. This is awful!!

Casey, I wanted to sell my house , the buyer wanted it badly he even waived the inspection..So we kept making ademdums to the old contract..the realtor didn't want me to do a new contract for fear of me losing the earnest money.......

[DavePautsch]

GiaB, my e-mail and web address are on my profile. Feel free.

Dave

[esya]

I agree you need a lawyer. The guy might have just been trying to tie up the money for the divorce. Rational people never put that much money on an escrow for that priced house. P.S. I have bought six houses and sold five, I am not a realtor.