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This is a true story about unethical realtors who will sell their soul for the almighy dollar.
In 2005 my spouse was diabnosed with two incurable diseased. We had a nice old custorm Craftsman that was way too big for us. We decided to sell it. I called a local realtor who was a franchisee of the Re/Max - ERA-Century 21- Caldwell Banker national chain and talked to GLD. I said there were three contingies I nedded: Possssion 30 days after closing; no winter sale; house to come off market until spring. The Broker agree and she brought a PRE-SIGNED short Listing Agreement that had no room for the Contingencies. I showed my own house.. One of the cery first buyers made an offer. I told his agent he could not have possession at close. I should have told the buyer myself.
The first ocntract presented had possesion at closing checked. The bank didn't take it. The second one had hte same thing. I changed it and initialed the change. GLD threw it away and creeated a new one with our signature. .
In the meantime between contact one and contact wto, GLD scheduled a showing. The next day the showing was cnancelled. GLD told the other agent she had a virtual contract and the other agentt decided to go elsewhere. (poisoned showing)
They buyer and I had been talking about moving. He wanted in. I wanted out but I needed help as we are both blind. The buyer not only agred to help us pack, he agreed to drive the truck. We were both fat dumb and happy.
A week before closing I realized he was NEVER told he couldn't have possession at closing. (Failure to advise client of material facts). The buyer backed out of the contract as I expected him to do. The next afternoon (Friday) GLD tells me the buyers agent is taking him to the closing as planned. .I had 48 hours to vacate! I was furious. First there was no third signed contrat between us. Secondly we did NOT agree to the terms of this alleged ontract. First light on Monday I called our lender and they stopped the sale. Tben I called the Title company and said we would not be party to a fraud. And they held the Closing anyway.
Three hours later GLD's broker/owner is screaming I owe her agent $5k for backing out of the contract and accused me of being in Colusion with the buyer (elony) to cheat her company. . I said she sould talk to her lying employee and the only coluding we did was talk about packing. She ranted some more and I hinted the judge could sort it out. Three days later she calls and says RL the othre broker/ owner admitted I was right, I said I wanted out of the econtrct with her and she refuesed.
Three days later GLD was going to dhow the hosue. NO!!! and I hung up. The B/O screaming she didn't care who she killed, there was any continguesncies and I would go to jail if she didn't show the house.
I showed. The contract called for a 14 day close which I knew was imossible because no VA loand can close that fast. She couldn't close it and she only gabe me a conditional release. I was rid of GLD and her. I had no intention of selling anything until this contract was dead.
And then the buyer who was cheated out of a house wanted $1000 from us because the lying broker who took him to the phony closing conned him. She said because we didn't sow up for the dog and pony show we were liable forhis losses, she couldn' be sued because she was a realtor. Two more lies here.
A week later Susan is at my door insisting I will show my house because she brought clients. I said no and an hour later I physically pushed her out the door and called her broker. Alan lied and said he had no control over his agemts, - they wre indpendant contactors. Her license hangs on his wall; he has control. And Susan persisted to call, send mail, drive by and park in front of the house. She tried one more time, After six months I picked up a Ex-Oarte Order, filled it out and called her broker.and said if I saw heer again she was going to jail.
About 18 months later I listed the house again. and sold it. The buyers agent was from GLD's office. This idiot reset the closing three times. The last time the closing was such a mess I called the banker and he fixed it in one phone call. We closed on schedule.
The buyers and I had an agreement that if I could not get out in 30 days we would pay them $x rent per diem. Their agent changed the amount to $250 per week and tried to roll it into closing. W'LL PUT IT INTO ESCROW. NO we will not. I called the title company and reminded the agent we would not be a party to cominling funds. We did not agree to the amount the agent thought we should pay, the buyers and sellers had no rental contract and we did not agree to those trems. And it was stopped too. From begining to end it was two yearrs almost to the day that we moved.
In one year I beat six lying rogue realtors and and rogue title compnay manager at their own game. Every thing they pulled was illegal. The first buyers broker/owner went out of business and so did the buyers agent abd the title company changed its name. It is amazing what happens in a little town when you chat with the judge, the banker, the guy that owns the newspaper and those all important others. .
My mother was a broker for 30 years. We talked about it for fifty. If it wasn't for her, we would have been cheated out of $20k plus we would have lost most of our perosnl possessions.
I don't know about the rest of the story, but Re/Max is not a member of the Cartus Network. Why did you sign the contract if you didn't have the 30 day moveout after closing in there?
If it was in the contract then the buyer is at fault. Your story was a bit difficult to follow.
I will also point out that Re/Max is NOT part of the conglomarate you listed. We are all independant franchises with no other names.
Most of your story makes no sense, and I was beat to it, but I also want to know what you didn't have your actual terms in writing on the contract? If your mom was in the business for so long, you should know that nothing in real estate matters if it's not in writing. Who cares that you verbally said something to the other agent. It's YOUR fault for not confirming your terms where what you were signing.
You have a sad, sad story, but not because of the realtors, but because it seemed like you had no clue what you were doing during any of the multiple contracts you had with various buyers.
I don't know about the rest of the story, but Re/Max is not a member of the Cartus Network. Why did you sign the contract if you didn't have the 30 day moveout after closing in there? If it was in the contract then the buyer is at fault. Your story was a bit difficult to follow.
I don't know anything about Cartus. When this was going on all four were being held off-shore either in negotiations to sell or quietly awaiting approval of the sale.
This was not only a mess from the begining it started off with an illegal LA. GLD the broker, and RL a broker/owner had both seen the house before I put on the market. They both knew the contingencies and why. Not only did we have no place to move, we were moving out of state. You don't pack up a 4 bedroom house in 48 houra even if you don't sleep a wink, and you never try to move a lung patient in cold weather. Not only does my spouse have two lung diseases, we also deal with Congestive Heart Failure due to a failed quad-bypass, blood clots, blindness, blood tests twice monthly, 25 pills daily, oxygen equipment and nebulizers. My spouse cannot see to adjust the conentrator to set the liter flow much let alone cook or pick up a phone and call 911. I am the chief cook and bottle washer of which all of these realtors were well aware of when I was threatened with jail. It is about money; never about matching homes with famileis that can afford it.
GLD had pre-signed the LA before we saw it - knowing full well she wasn't obligated to tell anyone anything. In my small book that is called 'withholding material facts." She knew the buyer needed immediate possession and we could not oblige. When I asked her, GLD said "you can work it out." That was a lie too. If it is not in the contract, it is unlikely in this case there would be a meeting of minds. The buyer agent knew for it was on the house sheet I prepared for him and I told him the same. It was not on the LS and GLD said nothing about possession to any agent sent to our house. I asked.
I don't see well either. The first contract was voided by the bank because the figures were wrong. She left a copy of that contract and that is when I found she checked possession at closing.
Between the first and second contract she poisoned a possible sale by lying to an out of state broke. GLD told that borker she had a verbal offer. There is no such thing as a legal smoke and mirrors contract. She had nothing in writing. I told her broker that I did not want to work with a liar I could not trust; I wanted out of the contract. She refused and I was left to work with the bum.
The second contract came pre-signed. I changed possesion and initialedit. "What did I want her to do?". I said, "Do your job." This is the last contract we signed, and th eone that disapperard. In the meantime the poor buyer is paying for inspections and so forth - some of which I had never heard of.
The buyer called on day to ask something. The more we talked the moee I became suspicous the poor guy had been shut out. I was right.
He had no idea the his agent, my agent, his agent's broker and even I knew why he needed immediate possesion, or that everyone but him knew we insisted on the contingencies and why.
When he found out he went ballistic and threatened to sue everyone connected with the fraud, And that is why RL went to him and said the house could close as scheduled and we would have 48 hours to vacate.
The bottom line was simple. The previous two contracts were null and void. We did not sign a third contact, there was no meeitng of minds. Therefore "the Closing" wouldn't hold water on a rainy day. There is no legal leg to stand on and in that state what the Title company did as af favor to protect a realtor was highly suspect at the least.
The contract between the franchisee/broker and seller should have ended here but it didn't. It escalated into a sandbox brawl with accusations of a felony and threats of jail. For the next ten months, It was like trying to live with a nest of vipers. They were determined to draw first blood. I was just as determined they would not. They spent a lot of time and expended a lot of resuources to prove something I didn't care one whit about.
I was introduced to real estate dirty deals at the tender age of nine.
This deal smelled worse than a cattle feed lot in Texas on a hot summer day and so do the six realtors, title company, and mortgage company that were all involved this cesspool.
I don't even know what GLD is. All 4 what where being held off-shore? A bank cannot void a signed contract. If you knew possession was important you should have asked about it. You signed a contract and if what you've described is accurate you were wrong. If you changed possession you no longer had a contract but instead a counter offer. I'm not sure what happened there as I'm not privy to that information.
It sounds like you all did some things wrong. Dirty deals? Whatever....I'm done here. I don't have the time or need to try to figure it out.
I don't understand why you have mentioned a couple of times that this or that contract came pre-signed. How do you pre-sign an offer? As Brandon mentioned, if you changed the possession, you do not have a contract, you have a counter.
You went back and tried to explain the story all over again, but your story still doesn't make much sense. What do you mean things were being held off-shore? How did you have an illegal LA? I assume you mean Listing Agreement. You're throwing out initials for things that you're not communicating well. What are you trying to say with LS? Listing Sheet?
Bottom line is, if it's not in writing, there is no contract. In your case, from the sounds of it, it doesn't matter if there wasn't a "meeting of the minds" because there was no fully executed, legally binding contract to begin with. You can't make a change without the other party initialling the change, and no execution date is put on a contract without every change being initialed. Contracts 101...
I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience selling your home.
I hope you and your husband are comfortably settled in your new home and regaining health and peace.
It can be overwhelming to deal with legal issues and contracts when you're already dealing with serious health issues and a caregiver.
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Yes it was
