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Hi All,
We have a difficult situation that I need your professional advices:
We listed our house through flat fee broker and we sold the house last week. It was a pleasant experience until several hours after the closing buyer agent called me, "the new owner moved in on the same day of closing and they found out that several kitchen outlets are not working properly, since you hired the electrical company to fix the issue, could you ask them to come to the house and fix them? the new owner really want it resolved."
According to the inspection report the inspector said: "A couple outlets by the kitchen sink have no power. Also, a couple GFCI outlets there did not test properly."
Soon after the inspection, the buyer agent emailed an amendment offer requesting us to "have licensed electrician correct wiring of kitchen outlets as noted in the inspection report." We accepted and hired one electrical company recommended by the buyer agent. When my husband met the electrician, he showed the electrician the printed inspection report, the amendment offer asking him to do what it was necessary to satisfy the amendment offer. The repair was done and payment was made and I forwarded the receipt to the agent before closing.
During the final walkthrough, my husband, buyers, and the buyer agent were there, and the buyer tested all kitchen outlets with an electrical tester, everything looked good except that one breaker in the basement was tripped but neither buyers nor the buyer agent said anything.
Buyer agent was not at the closing due to family reason but her coworker was there, nobody said anything about the kitchen outlets, we also bought the universal home warrant as requested in the offer and the house was closed.
Since the closing, buyer agent had emailed and called several times insisting us to call the electrical company, her reason is that she now found that the receipt shows "outlet" instead of "outlets" and therefore we are still responsible for other outlets repair. We did not call because we acted honestly and trustfully during the process and the house is closed, if we call, who knows what will come next!
Yesterday my husband talked to the agent and she still insisted that we were responsible for the repair specified in the inspection report and my husband said that the house is closed now, and we are not legally obliged, and she should direct the buyer to call the home warrant company.
We also emailed buyer to talk to us directly without the agent, today the buyer emailed us telling us that they already called the electrician from the same company and got the repair done on the same day they moved in, which was on the closing day, or they will pursue this issue further.
I read some threads on similar post-closing dispute and it helps! but still want to share our story and your advices and feedback is highly appreciated!
I hope you understand that this is a forum of general people, not real estate professionals. We do not give professional advice. There is occasionally a person whose field matches up with someone's question, but otherwise we are just Madison natives who share our experiences with those who are thinking of moving here. You would have to actually hire a professional attorney or real estate agent to get professional advice, because even if someone claims to be such a professional, if you are not their client, they are not responsible for the advice they give you, which could be totally bogus.
That said, I think you would be legally liable to comply with the original agreement. Just because the sale is closed doesn't mean you are not responsible for fulfilling the original terms of the sales agreement. Fixing the electrical problem was a term of the sale. The burden of proof and getting it done was/is on you. I am pretty sure that if you don't hold up your end of the bargain by paying for the additional work that had to be done, technically, the sales contract would be void. That would mean the buyer would get their money back and you'd be stuck with the house. Again, I am not an attorney or a real estate agent, so what I am saying is not professional advice and might be completely wrong.
Hi All,
Thank you for the response, I posted it on the wrong forum and moved to real estate forum.
Now to cully:
The new owner said, if we cover the electricians work done on the closing day by the electrical company, they will not pursue this issue further.
As a general rule, if you agreed to make a respire and that repair was not made, you can still be held liable for that repair. If you agreed to do it and it was not done, you did not do what you agreed you will do. However, your contract should have any condition on post repair inspections and such. If it is silent on this, odds are a failure to repair what was agreed to be repaired will be ruled in favor of the buyer.
Yes, you closed on the house, but the repair was contracted separately between you and the repairman.
If you agreed to repair it and the guy you hired did NOT repair it, then YOU must see the repair to completion, regardless of whether or not they have taken possession of the house.
Seems the electrician did not repair all the outlets as stated in the contract, get them repaired and call it a day/move on. If you were in their shoes how would you want the matter resolved?
Hi All,
Thank you for the response, I posted it on the wrong forum and moved to real estate forum.
Now to cully:
The new owner said, if we cover the electricians work done on the closing day by the electrical company, they will not pursue this issue further.
Generally, all bets are off after closing. However, the buyer's agent who recommended the electrician tht you used...I wonder if he can go out and recheck the work he did under some sort of warranty. That kind of thing should pass to the buyer. Either the electrician guaranteeing his work for ...you'd think at least a few days. Or the house warranty perhaps.
Are they sure they know about that little red reset button on the outlets near water? Could that be causing the problem?
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