Breach of Contract by Buyer

[lindaray21]

We listed our house for $415,00; had a bidding war and we accepted the bid for $430,00.
In the contract we asked the buyer to sign saying he would buy the house when and if the appraisel came back under $430,000 and they did with no issues. We signed the contract on July 8. On the diclosure we said the house was built in 1979 based on the appraisel we received on Sept 29, 2004. And I also mistakenly wrote we bought the house in 1988 instead of 1998. On July 21, the date of the inspection I was told buy the buyer that the house was built in 1963. Anyway we tried to negotiate the issues on the inspection, and the buyer got pissed because we were negotiating and demanded $15,000 back but we were almost done with alll the inspection issues. And we said no. So we offered them a credit of $1500, than $3000, than $5000 and finally $7500 and they said no and said they wanted the deposit back and they are not buying the house. So now they are suing for the deposit back. Do they have a case.

 

[bryan]

Really depends on the contract. Was there an option period? Under what circumstances did it allow for the buyer to terminate the contract? What was the penalties written in for breaking the contract?

 

[NYClex]

well, if you represented the house being built in 1979 and in reality it was built in 1963 buyer here probably has a case to get out of the contract. If I were him I would even consider fraud charges.

Also look at your contract. What does it say about rescission and due diligence?

 

[Tim_R]

Trying to get out

We got a contract on our house a week ago. The close date is the 10th of Oct. On the 30th of Sept we got a phone call from our realiter saying the people want to get out because they were told by someone that we have ice storms here and they would be stuck. Can they get out of this? I have already bought a house and have packed everything up, as well as registered my kids in their new school.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

We got a contract on our house a week ago. The close date is the 10th of Oct. On the 30th of Sept we got a phone call from our realiter saying the people want to get out because they were told by someone that we have ice storms here and they would be stuck. Can they get out of this? I have already bought a house and have packed everything up, as well as registered my kids in their new school.

That doesn't sound like a viable excuse. I'm curious to know, what did your realtor say and did you have an attorney that handled the transaction and held an amount of cash in escrow?