Signed then not signed - Posted by JM

Real Estate Investing Real Estate Law
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Posted by Natalie Smith on October 30, 2004 at 16:42:53:

I am not an attorney. I am a Real Estate Broker in Virginia. This would be a situation where it’s valuable to have an experienced real estate agent and/or a real estate attorney on your side.

You will need to review your contract, but I can tell you how our local contracts work:

If the property inspection contingency removal was not signed with everyone agreeing on the repairs, there might be a couple of scenarios. In our contract, the buyer MUST give the seller the repair request along with a copy of the inspection report within a certain timeframe. If this is not done, it’s assumed that the buyer has no objections to condition and the contingency is automatically removed. Now, if the buyer gives the seller the appropriate paperwork in the specified timeframe, and the buyer and seller don’t agree on repairs (in writing), then either the buyer or seller can terminate the contract. It sounds like this is your scenario, BUT it depends what your contract says.

Another issue is the sale of her existing property. I see it’s not in the contract, but does she really have to sell it in order to close on yours? The reason I ask, is that in Virginia, if a Buyer’s Agent wrote that contract and did not disclose a contingency IN THE CONTRACT, they may be violating the Real Estate Board rules and regs and should be reported.

I hope this helps.

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Signed then not signed - Posted by JM

Posted by JM on October 26, 2004 at 15:19:44:

Here is the scenario:

1.) Signed contract for house with inspection contingency, closing beginning of December.

2.) Inspection came back with 10 small items, we countered, agreed to do 8 of the 10.

3.) Got verbal agreement this was OK, but buyer is now concerned her existing property (not contingent in contract) will not sell and considering backing out based on us not accepting all inspection contingencies.

Other consideration, after the verbal OK was received on Saturday, we signed 6 month apartment lease on Sunday.

Question - While I understand most verbal agreements are not enforceable, is there any recourse since we are potentially out rent deposit and x months of rent?

Thanks