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wait wait wait!! Why didn't the OP have the water turned off too????? Had it been, might not have been as big a mess
where are you OP?
Other than banks most people don't winterize their homes prior to moving out. Out here when you "shut off utilities" the gas and water still flow to the house. You can shut off the mains at the house, but at least out here, that isn't normal practice.
I agree that the seller has no repsonsibility. I would have ignored the letter or responed gently and firmly. It's crazy for a buyer to expect a seller to leave any utilities on after the closing.
I agree that the seller has no repsonsibility. I would have ignored the letter or responed gently and firmly. It's crazy for a buyer to expect a seller to leave any utilities on after the closing.
Okay I am not saying the buyer wasn't a little OUT there contacting the seller...but I am curious as to the water possibly being on, since it wasn't mentioned. Maybe the buyers thought ALL utilities were off???
Every where that I have lived, the water is cut off at the street, and they come to manually cut it back on...once they get their hefty deposits
I have no issue with the seller turning off the utilities.
What I saw as uncalled for was the response that was sent to new, first time home buyers who probably freaked out at the damage, were inexperienced and perhaps uninformed by their agent and reacted in anger and misdirected it at the seller. They were most certainly at fault for not handling this beforehand but the seller's response was just cruel.
Had I received a letter like that from the buyer, I would be angry that they were threatening me but knowing that those threats have no teeth I wouldn't have sent them a letter basking with glee about a cruise I'm taking when these people were probably devastated and distraught about what happened to their new home.
OH good one!! YES, OP why didn't YOU have the water turned off too?????
In some places we have lived (St. Louis, Big Bear, Albuquerque), the water was shut off manually and had to be turned on by the water company before we could move in. The utilities were required to be turned off before the water tho.
In other places, when I've called to "turn off" utilities (Colorado Springs, Jacksonville FL, San Diego) they have simply removed my name from the account without turning anything off.
Perhaps the buyers (who even the OP admits came from out of town) didn't realize the differences. While their realtor should've helped them out with these things, it's a possibility that the OP's arrogance will upset some judge and he'll end up responsible for all, if not part, of the damages. Am I hoping this will happen to him? Well, I ALWAYS like to see jerks "get it".
From a legal stand point and my professional opinion in law, the seller would prevail, but would not recover costs of litigation. The standard to recover costs from the losing party is a very high legal standard. My outlook is the following: if the buyer filed a cliam against seller (which could even be done in federal court) the seller will win on a motion for summary judgment but still will spend atleast $4,000 in costs. It is doubtful an attorney would pursue this unless the buyer was paying hourly because there is very limited recovery potential here. Infact I would as an attorney believe if the buyer were to have any chance at recovery it would be from their agent if this info was required to be on disclosed (not too common in most states).
Enough said, but I think all parties involved can learn something from this transaction and hopefully everything works out the best for everyone
Quote:
Originally Posted by MsFancyPants
I think the buyers were BIG jerks! LOL! So I'm hoping the judge not only dismisses at summary judgment but that he makes them pay costs!!
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Why didn't the OP have the water turned off too????? Had it been, might not have been as big a mess
