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Old 09-06-2014, 08:44 AM
 
Location: Wisconsin
3,275 posts, read 2,980,440 times
Reputation: 12529

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This is just a mini rant, I guess, so please bear with me.

We moved into our home in May 2014. There was a pre-existing issue with the septic system that could not be repaired until the ground dried out, so the owners were told to get three competing bids for the repairs, and the sum to be held in escrow for the work would be the amount of the highest bid. At the time, we were told that the work would undoubtedly be completed no later than July.

Well, it has been an unprecedentedly wet summer, and here it is September and we just had five inches of rain in a 24 hour period last week, so the work won't be completed any time soon. The day after the latest storm, the prior owner phoned us to request that we "release the escrow" or at least give him the difference between the highest bid and the lowest bid, which was the one that was accepted. He actually got angry when my husband told him that would not be possible, and said something like, "Well, I'm trying to be nice here, but if you don't cooperate, we can do things in a way you won't like."

WTF? My husband called our realtor, who assured us that she would set him straight as to what escrow means, but I'm so irritated that he would call out of the blue and ask us to do something that is against our own best interests, and then have the nerve to get angry. He and his wife live nearby, we see them all the time on the road and in town, and they had been very nice and easy to get along with prior to this, so it just came out of left field and what he said at the end made me very uneasy.

Has anyone else here ever had this happen? I don't think they have a legal leg to stand on, but it was very disconcerting to have him call up and be demanding and angry about something that was never our fault to begin with.
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Old 09-06-2014, 09:25 AM
 
Location: Just south of Denver since 1989
11,815 posts, read 34,279,523 times
Reputation: 8935
If unable to perform due to weather beyond your control is a valid defense to the former owners claim.

You are planning on doing the work as soon a you are able.
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Old 09-06-2014, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Columbia SC
14,193 posts, read 14,556,677 times
Reputation: 21999
iroo

Tough love here but it could appear your deceived the seller. You wanted the highest bid in escrow and you gave a time frame. You then choose the lowest bid and the work is over two months late.
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Old 09-06-2014, 10:45 AM
 
Location: Wisconsin
3,275 posts, read 2,980,440 times
Reputation: 12529
Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf View Post
iroo

Tough love here but it could appear your deceived the seller. You wanted the highest bid in escrow and you gave a time frame. You then choose the lowest bid and the work is over two months late.
Huh? Are you a Realtor or a banker? If so, can you explain what you mean?

We have actually dealt in good faith every inch of the way in this. To whit:

1) We offered the listed price for the home, with no bargaining down. Our realtor thought we were crazy, but we explained that we like a win/win where everyone goes away from the table happy.

2) After the problem with the septic system was discovered, we immediately advised our realtor that we would be happy to agree to reduce the list price of the home by the lowest bid for this work, and have it done on our own when we could, but our realtor said the title company would not go for that.

3) When we asked why the amount held in escrow had to be the highest bid when the company with the lowest bid was probably going to do the work, the realtor told us that by law, the highest bid had to be the amount held in escrow for the repairs (this is normal and is for the protection of the buyer).

4) We could have backed out of the sale with no penalty the minute the issues with the septic system were discovered. Instead we decided to go ahead with the purchase, which would only be allowed by the title company if the owners agreed to the escrow.

5) We did not state a time frame for the work to be completed, they gave the time frame to us as quoted by the company they (not we) chose to do the work. The seller got all the bids and has arranged for the work to be done by the company of their choice.

So I do not think we did anything deceptive, in fact, we didn't even know the names of the bidding companies or what they bid until we were told what was going into escrow. Plus we tried to do it in a different way even before the sale, which would not have entailed any escrow situation, but we were not allowed to do so.
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Old 09-06-2014, 10:59 AM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,227,113 times
Reputation: 35433
Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf View Post
iroo

Tough love here but it could appear your deceived the seller. You wanted the highest bid in escrow and you gave a time frame. You then choose the lowest bid and the work is over two months late.
With work that cannot be completed due to factors out of the buyers control. The problem with releasing funds is sometimes a low bid is simply there to get the job. Then the repair company comes in with change orders. And that's when the real price comes in. Lots of companies work in this manner. This is why you throw out the low and high bids and you take the middle of the road. Of course making sure ALL bids have the same description/repair work to be completed so it's apples to apples. I wouldn't release anything until the repairs are completed and passed inspection
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Old 09-06-2014, 01:04 PM
 
8,539 posts, read 12,271,462 times
Reputation: 16432
The guy just wants his money. I can't blame him.

Are you saying that no septic work was done all summer in your area? (The Seller obviously thinks that the work should have been done by now.) Our weather here couldn't have been much different than in your area...so it does seem rather hard to believe that nothing could have been done in June, July or August (and I realize it's been a wet summer).
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Old 09-06-2014, 02:45 PM
 
5,048 posts, read 9,551,931 times
Reputation: 4179
I don't understand the amount he would like back for now. You accepted the lowest bid on the work, right? And so you escrowed the lowest bid amount? And he wants the difference back between that bid and the highest contractor bid? That doesn't seem to even make sense as an amount for him to ask for.

So, no one got any of this kind of work done in your area.

I also notice your realtor said she would set him straight. Why? Areas I'm familiar with, your realtor would call his realtor. Just the right thing to do and his realtor would know him better. Or was their only one realtor?

About your legal leg. Isn't there anything in the escrow agreement about an earliest possible date or something that covers this.
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Old 09-06-2014, 02:59 PM
 
Location: Martinsville, NJ
6,175 posts, read 12,892,672 times
Reputation: 4019
Quote:
Originally Posted by cully View Post
I don't understand the amount he would like back for now. You accepted the lowest bid on the work, right? And so you escrowed the lowest bid amount? And he wants the difference back between that bid and the highest contractor bid? That doesn't seem to even make sense as an amount for him to ask for.

So, no one got any of this kind of work done in your area.

I also notice your realtor said she would set him straight. Why? Areas I'm familiar with, your realtor would call his realtor. Just the right thing to do and his realtor would know him better. Or was their only one realtor?

About your legal leg. Isn't there anything in the escrow agreement about an earliest possible date or something that covers this.
The HIGHEST bid was the escrowed amount. The LOWEST bid was the accepted contract. The seller wants that difference back for now, and I can't blame him.
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Old 09-06-2014, 03:07 PM
 
Location: Martinsville, NJ
6,175 posts, read 12,892,672 times
Reputation: 4019
Quote:
Originally Posted by irootoo View Post
This is just a mini rant, I guess, so please bear with me.

We moved into our home in May 2014. There was a pre-existing issue with the septic system that could not be repaired until the ground dried out, so the owners were told to get three competing bids for the repairs, and the sum to be held in escrow for the work would be the amount of the highest bid. At the time, we were told that the work would undoubtedly be completed no later than July.

Well, it has been an unprecedentedly wet summer, and here it is September and we just had five inches of rain in a 24 hour period last week, so the work won't be completed any time soon. The day after the latest storm, the prior owner phoned us to request that we "release the escrow" or at least give him the difference between the highest bid and the lowest bid, which was the one that was accepted. He actually got angry when my husband told him that would not be possible, and said something like, "Well, I'm trying to be nice here, but if you don't cooperate, we can do things in a way you won't like."

WTF? My husband called our realtor, who assured us that she would set him straight as to what escrow means, but I'm so irritated that he would call out of the blue and ask us to do something that is against our own best interests, and then have the nerve to get angry. He and his wife live nearby, we see them all the time on the road and in town, and they had been very nice and easy to get along with prior to this, so it just came out of left field and what he said at the end made me very uneasy.

Has anyone else here ever had this happen? I don't think they have a legal leg to stand on, but it was very disconcerting to have him call up and be demanding and angry about something that was never our fault to begin with.
Look at it from the seller's perspective; they put more money than was necessary into an account for the repairs, knowing they would get back the overage when the work was done. Three months later, the work still isn't done. They want their money. Can you blame them? It's probably a few hundred dollars at least, possibly thousands. Now, if the work really could not be done yet, then that can be explained to the seller, who will simply have to wait. To be honest though, it sounds a little off to me that the months of June, July, & August were all too wet to allow this work to be done. I'd be calling to question you as well. Don't let it bother you too much.
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Old 09-06-2014, 05:44 PM
 
306 posts, read 545,962 times
Reputation: 438
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Keegan View Post
Look at it from the seller's perspective; they put more money than was necessary into an account for the repairs, knowing they would get back the overage when the work was done. Three months later, the work still isn't done. They want their money. Can you blame them? It's probably a few hundred dollars at least, possibly thousands. Now, if the work really could not be done yet, then that can be explained to the seller, who will simply have to wait. To be honest though, it sounds a little off to me that the months of June, July, & August were all too wet to allow this work to be done. I'd be calling to question you as well. Don't let it bother you too much.
You seem to be missing the points that they made in a later post that the SELLER has made the repair arrangements and they don't even know who the bidding companies are / were...
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