Real estate problem. BIG ONE!

[Yax]

Okay, guy buys my house at way below market value. I even gave him about $10K at closing and agreed to give him an extra $500 for minor repair costs.

Now he claims he can't move in because there were some bugs in the place, namely roaches and ants. He said since he couldn't move in at end of closing, that he's going to sue me for:
1. first month of interest on his loan.
2. costs to advertise his first home for rental.
3. $1650 a month on his first home till its rented. then any difference if it rents for less.
(Around the area, his home would probably rent for no more than $1300/month, and its a huge home too so probably no demand for it).

I'm like WTF! What's he thinking? Darnn, some of these aholes are so lawsuit happy. GEEZ!

 

[olds]

Why did he buy it below market?

 

[Yax]

I wanted to sell quickly and I didn't really know what it was worth at the time I sold it.

Edit: till after appraisal.

 

[KarenMarie]

tell him that he can go right ahead and sue... and when all is said and done, and he is paying your court costs... you will then get money from him to relist your property and $1650 per month for every month he has wasted your time.

 

[Rastus]

If he has signed a contract, he will either fulfill his part of it or you will sue him. He has no standing.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
tell him that he can go right ahead and sue... and when all is said and done, and he is paying your court costs... you will then get money from him to relist your property and $1650 per month for every month he has wasted your time.

How does that work?
The deal is done. Home is his now.

 

[Kenazo]

Cavaet Emptor

Assuming you acted in good faith when you sold it, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[NogginBoink]

Let him sue you. Assuming the sale was done properly, he's going to face a VERY tough time even getting a court to take him seriuosly.

 

[KarenMarie]

Originally posted by: Yax

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
tell him that he can go right ahead and sue... and when all is said and done, and he is paying your court costs... you will then get money from him to relist your property and $1650 per month for every month he has wasted your time.

How does that work?
The deal is done. Home is his now.

Ahhh... I apologize... I misread that...AT closing/FOR closing. I thought it was not a done deal yet.

Sorry.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Let him try. He won't win.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
Let him try. He won't win.

Yeah, but it takes time to get out of work to attend court. Actually, we'd be going to arbitration because its in the contract that all disputes were to be settled by arbitration.

 

[Rudee]

If the buyer is so concerned with insects he should of included that in his purchase contract, where the buyer specifies the terms and conditions. If he didn't and he sees roaches, too bad.

 

[RKS]

did you know about the infestation? is/was it an evident issue?

as Konazo mentioned if you acted in Good Faith you should be ok as far as paying him in court but arbitration is a whole different animal.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: RKS
did you know about the infestation? is/was it an evident issue?

as Konazo mentioned if you acted in Good Faith you should be ok as far as paying him in court but arbitration is a whole different animal.

We knew the place had a few bugs, because these types of bugs were native to the area but not any infestation. Who hasn't seen one or two bugs in their home?

Anyway, he had a home inspection done and the guy was pretty thorough. The contingency was that he'd have to approve of the home inspection before we could close the deal. Which he did. I disclosed everything I knew to be a problem in the home too.

 

[geno]

If the home inspector didn't notice it or call in an insect inspector, isn't it HIS problem at this point?

 

[HombrePequeno]

Stab him.

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: geno
If the home inspector didn't notice it or call in an insect inspector, isn't it HIS problem at this point?

I would say so too, but this guy just wants to milk me. I'm sick of it so I wrote him a response letter to stop bothering me and just call the arbitration organization if he wants to continue with his claims.

 

[iversonyin]

Did you breach any part of your contract? If you did then you most likely have to pay

 

[Icepick]

edit: wtf? Somehow this ended up as a double post. Sorry!

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: iversonyin
Did you breach any part of your contract? If you did then you most likely have to pay

No, but he claims that I since I never disclosed that there were roaches in the house that I was responsible for it.

 

[Icepick]

Call his bluff and tell him to go ahead and sue. Once he handed you the cashier's check at the closing and the deal was finalized there's nothing he can do. He would have been required to have a home inspector look at the place before his bank would agree to the loan. A bug inspection is part of what the inspector signs off on. Now that his home inspector signed off on it that's his house and those bugs are his problem. Also, the way this guy is trying to stiff you it sounds like he's a major a$$hat.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: Yax

Originally posted by: RKS
did you know about the infestation? is/was it an evident issue?

as Konazo mentioned if you acted in Good Faith you should be ok as far as paying him in court but arbitration is a whole different animal.

We knew the place had a few bugs, because these types of bugs were native to the area but not any infestation. Who hasn't seen one or two bugs in their home?

Anyway, he had a home inspection done and the guy was pretty thorough. The contingency was that he'd have to approve of the home inspection before we could close the deal. Which he did. I disclosed everything I knew to be a problem in the home too.

A few bugs here and there do not equal an infestation. If it was deemed to be an infestation by the home inspector then it would have been brought up before closing and he could have asked you to pay to have the bugs removed before closing on it. Since he didn't it's his problem.

 

[virtueixi]

I would laugh at him.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Yax
Okay, guy buys my house at way below market value. I even gave him about $10K at closing and agreed to give him an extra $500 for minor repair costs.

Now he claims he can't move in because there were some bugs in the place, namely roaches and ants. He said since he couldn't move in at end of closing, that he's going to sue me for:
1. first month of interest on his loan.
2. costs to advertise his first home for rental.
3. $1650 a month on his first home till its rented. then any difference if it rents for less.
(Around the area, his home would probably rent for no more than $1300/month, and its a huge home too so probably no demand for it).

I'm like WTF! What's he thinking? Darnn, some of these aholes are so lawsuit happy. GEEZ!

If this is the full story, then don't worry about it he doesn't have a legal leg to stand on, stop contact with him and be done with it. The worst thing you can do is continue to let him threaten you and get you to say anything further on the subject. If he has agreed to arbitration, then fine, you can go on a Saturday to settle it in a few months.

Bill

 

[Kenazo]

Originally posted by: RKS
did you know about the infestation? is/was it an evident issue?

as Konazo mentioned if you acted in Good Faith you should be ok as far as paying him in court but arbitration is a whole different animal.

Konazo?