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The home we are buying is a foreclosure/REO and "as is." On the 3rd of this month we signed an addendum prepared by our agent - purchase agreement pending inspections, etc. The seller gave us ten days to complete the inspections and our loan contingency. On the 5th we set up our inspections, only to find out that the seller (being the bank) had not "officially" signed the addendum - so as a result the water could not be turned on. No water = no inspections.
Our agent is still trying to get in contact with the listing agent to see when EXACTLY our ten days began. In previous conversations, the listing agent said that the contract became official and the ten days started the moment we signed our part of the contract. But we need concrete clarification - of which we still are trying to get. And no seller signed agreement has been given to us - which I believe we are entitled to.
But how are we to do the inspections if the water is not turned on due to the fact that the seller (the bank) hasn't even signed??
If the ten days passes without the signature of the seller - then what is our legal rights??
Point blank - we DO NOT want to lose our deposit. But I fail to see how the seller could take our deposit due to the fact that they haven't complied with our legal right to have an inspection.\
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
6,957 posts, read 22,302,067 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by r_toy77
Our agent is still trying to get in contact with the listing agent to see when EXACTLY our ten days began. In previous conversations, the listing agent said that the contract became official and the ten days started the moment we signed our part of the contract. But we need concrete clarification - of which we still are trying to get. And no seller signed agreement has been given to us - which I believe we are entitled to.
But how are we to do the inspections if the water is not turned on due to the fact that the seller (the bank) hasn't even signed??
If the ten days passes without the signature of the seller - then what is our legal rights??
Point blank - we DO NOT want to lose our deposit. But I fail to see how the seller could take our deposit due to the fact that they haven't complied with our legal right to have an inspection.\
HELP!!
The listing agent is WRONG!
I had the same situation last week. The banks agent tried to shorten my inspection period because of their slowness and I had to remind her that the date is from the time of mutual agreement, not the time my buyers signed.
Mutual agreement is when the agreement is COMMUNICATED to the other party, in your case and in mine, when the seller lets the buyer know that they have signed the document. Stand firm and don't be bullied by the bank.
I've always started the clock when both parties have signed and are in agreement.
I will have to toss the legal rights portion of the question to the Lawyers to answer.
Very important to test the water system, I have been hearing about damage done to the plumbing systems by the prior owners, only discovered on inspection and by running the water.
Ask the seller for extensions and other items even if the agents say it won't fly, it doesn't hurt to ask, depending on the seller you may get a positive response, especially since we are hitting the end of the qtr soon and they want the deals to close.
The clock starts running when the contract is signed (by both parties), sealed and delivered. Your agent needs to stay on top of the listing agent and insist on being sent a copy of the contract, signed by the bank, as soon as it is signed. This communication should all be in writing (via email, usually), to make sure that the listing agent knows that there is a "paper trail".
Make sure that the listing agent is actually communicating your requests for extensions to the bank and not making decisions for the bank on his own, unless he has authorization from the bank to do so (highly unlikely). When your agent sends them a request late on a Saturday and you get a response fram the bank shortly after noon on Sunday (yes, this has happened to me), you should ask for verification in writing FROM THE BANK that they received the request and denied it.
Legally, there is no contract until both parties sign the same document with the same terms. When you signed the addendum, you made a counteroffer that the seller must sign to signify his or her acceptance, at which point you will have a valid contract.
And even if it were a valid contract (meaning the seller had signed it), there is a general rule that a party to a contract cannot invoke a condition precedent, in this case the time limits for inspection, if that party prevents that condition from occurring. By failing to make it possible to have the inspection, the buyer can't get out of the inspection contingency. Of course, this is a general rule that may not be applicable in your area, so don't take that to the bank.
There is not enough clear information presented to advise the OP.
What is the relationship between the addendum and contract?
Is there a valid contract?
Was the addendum presented to the bank post-contract?
Is the addendum a part of the contract, if there is one? Is it referred to in the contract?
Does the agent have a copy of the executed contract? Does that satisfy the local legal standards of notice to the Buyer?
Where is the deposit currently?
Has it been deposited in trust/escrow account, or is the check being held?
Is this property in one of the United States?
Which one?
How in the world can the agent need to "...contact the other agent to see when the 10 days began," if there is a contract? Is there no stipulation in the contract?
We are all blind men groping an elephant here.
The proper advice here is to have a legal review of the existing documents for some sort of thorough assessment of what the OP is dealing with.
The original post certainly doesn't give enough information to gather much of anything but disinformation, IMO.
Although it would be helpful if you gave us more information about the contract -- do you have any contract that has been signed by both parties? -- my advice to you is simple. Terminate the contract. There is no reason to take the risk that you'll lose your deposit, and you can't go forward without a full opportunity to inspect. Now before you run off and do this, though, you need to make sure that you have the right to terminate. That should be easy enough to determine, but I wouldn't want you to overlook that.
Once the contract is terminated, you can start the process over and make sure that you have a real inspection period, with utilities available. The addendum should say that the inspection period begins only after (1) you have received a fully signed addendum, and (2) all utilities have been turned on and you are notified of that fact.
Good luck.
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