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I recently bought a house in fremont, CA and it is past the inspection contingency (no loan contingency). I'd like to back out from the deal because i am not satisfied with my agent.
My agent was incompetent. I didn't want to remove contingency until seller sign a rentback agreement with sooner moveout date. he had me sign both rentback agreement and remove contingency agreement and sent to seller agent. Therefore, of course, seller agent just signed the one they like (remove contingency) and didn't sign my rent back agreement. I was really disappointed about that. And he made mistakes all the time, such as telling me the wrong escrow date even if I questioned a few times. He made a few mistake with rent back agreements, and etc.
Therefore, I decide to cancel my contract. I'd like to know what is my max loss if walking out of a contract. Is it the earnest money desposit only? He told me that not only i will lose my deposit, but also seller broker and his broker company will sue me for breaching contract. Moreover, seller will charge me in addtion to deposit to cover their loss. I really doubt about his statement. It's possible that I will lose all my desposit. How can i lose more than that when contract didn't mention what other is there to lose?
I recently bought a house in fremont, CA and it is past the inspection contingency (no loan contingency). I'd like to back out from the deal because i am not satisfied with my agent.
My agent was incompetent. I didn't want to remove contingency until seller sign a rentback agreement with sooner moveout date. he had me sign both rentback agreement and remove contingency agreement and sent to seller agent. Therefore, of course, seller agent just signed the one they like (remove contingency) and didn't sign my rent back agreement. I was really disappointed about that. And he made mistakes all the time, such as telling me the wrong escrow date even if I questioned a few times. He made a few mistake with rent back agreements, and etc.
Therefore, I decide to cancel my contract. I'd like to know what is my max loss if walking out of a contract. Is it the earnest money desposit only? He told me that not only i will lose my deposit, but also seller broker and his broker company will sue me for breaching contract. Moreover, seller will charge me in addtion to deposit to cover their loss. I really doubt about his statement. It's possible that I will lose all my desposit. How can i lose more than that when contract didn't mention what other is there to lose?
I look forward to your reply. Thanks,
cl
First, I am not a lawyer.
Let's get rid of all the paint and look at this first in black and white. If a buyer enters into a contract to purchase a home and then simply backs out causing the seller to incur expense, the seller could claim and reasonably expect to be compensated by the buyer for those losses. The legal term is "specific performance" and it has nothing to do with the "good faith," "escrow," or contract "deposit." So, in a pure situation, the cold footed buyer may not just walk without financial responsibility.
As I see it, in your case, the same rules apply as the above example, but from the seller's point of view, the same expenses may have been felt; therefore, the seller is ethically and legally entitled to recovery of any expenses they may have had due to taking their property off the market as a result of your offer and the subsequent sales process which in their mind you simply cancelled. Now, if you can show that your agent was indeed incompetent and that incompetence actually resulted in damaging you, then like a chain car crash, the back car is due to pay the car he hit. The car he hit is responsible to pay for the car it hit and etc. (Car one pays car 2, which pays car 3) So your agent will have to pay you for damages, which may include damages you owe the seller..
Your contract should spell out your liabilities and possible costs to cancel, and how issues may be escalated, such as mediation or other methods. But best answer is ask a lawyer.
I recently bought a house in fremont, CA and it is past the inspection contingency (no loan contingency). I'd like to back out from the deal because i am not satisfied with my agent.
You want to back out because you dont like your agent? LOL. That makes no sense.
FYI: If the seller sues you for breach of contact, the judge could order specific performance. Where a court would order the buyer to complete the sale. The seller also might sue to recover consequential damages, which are reasonably foreseeable costs the seller has had to pay as a result of the breach of the contract. An example would be temporary housing costs if the seller ended up renting or buying another place to live because of the buyers actions.
...FYI: If the seller sues you for breach of contact, the judge could order specific performance. Where a court would order the buyer to complete the sale. The seller also might sue to recover consequential damages, which are reasonably foreseeable costs the seller has had to pay as a result of the breach of the contract. An example would be temporary housing costs if the seller ended up renting or buying another place to live because of the buyers actions.
Again, any actions that the seller may take may be limited by the terms of the contract regarding breach of contract and dispute resolution. For example, in our contract, damages may be limited to earnest money in some situations, or the parties can follow a dispute resolution process including mediation followed by arbitration. As said, best to read the contract and consult with an attorney if not understood.
The OP needs to decide if they are being a bit short sighted. Take out the emotional impact of their agent and decide if they really want the home or not. Can they put aside the agent issues and still move forward with the purchase?
This does look like buyer's remorse. In the Bay agents do really interesting things to sell homes. Get some advice from another realtor and or Broker. If you don't want the place try to get out of it because you will be stuck with the place and the payments and you should be happy with what you are paying for.
I've walked out on purchasing a home in Oakland for various reason/issues I had with my realtor (this happened years ago, mainly, she was not honest & she tried to hold onto our deposit). Anyways, long story short she (the realtor) told us that we could be taken to court and we could loose our deposit the whole bit. We weren't taken to court and this type of thing happens all the time.
At the end of the day no one wants to higher an attorney to take you to court. They could and might just hold onto your deposit but that is also something you can take up with the title company. Also, if there was an inspection done on the house and there is a bunch of stuff that you will have to fix to saying that you don't want to deal with the renter still in the place I'd use these reasons to justify getting out of the deal so that you can get your deposit back. But fire your current realtor and go with someone else that is with the agen't company and or the agent's broker to handle getting out of the deal.
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