 |
Promised Repairs Not Made |
| |
 |
My husband and I just purchased a house last weekend. We had some issues with the house that needed to be fixed. We signed an agreement with the seller (who is also a realtor) stating a timeline when the issues were to be fixed. If the seller didn't fix these things, the title company withheld money in escrow that was to be given to my husband. As I stated before, the seller agreed to this and a contract was signed by her. Now the deadline has past on some of the items (we have 3 different deadlines for different issues) and she has not fixed the items. We contacted the title company and they say that the seller has to sign a letter to release the monies. To give you an example of what one of the items were, the seller took to lighting fixtures in the home that were not supposed to be taken. She replaced them with two very cheap fixtures. As a realtor herself, you would think that she would know better. She was supposed to return or replace the fixtures as of last Friday and she did not. There was $300 allotted for those fixtures in escrow if that was not done. Now she will not sign the letter stating that these things were not corrected. The title company says they cannot release the money until she signs a letter. I am curious as to how this is fair. We have a signed contract with our signatures AND her signature stating this agreement, but yet she has to sign ANOTHER letter? She didn't want to give us money on these things to begin with and it came down to a war during closing. Reluctantly she agreed because we were going to walk away from the sale if certain things were not fixed. It sort of seems like anyone can just say "ok, I'll put $30,000 in escrow to update the kitchen", knowing in the end they do not have to do it.
The most major thing is that the roof needs to be replaced. It was supposed to be repaired prior to closing and was not done because no certified roofer would repair it. Each one that was hired said that the whole roof needed to be replaced. The seller wanted to have her boyfriend (who is not a roofer) "repair" it , but because it could not be certified, we would not except that. This was also placed in our contract, giving her a deadline of June 12th to fix it. She agreed and signed, saying that if it was not done by then, $5900 was allotted in escrow for us to have the roof replaced. My thinking is that if she will not even sign a letter releasing $300 for light fixtures that she legally stole, then she will not fix the roof or release money to have the roof fixed.
Any thoughts on where to go from here?
I can honestly say that I am a stay at home mom with 3 young children and we do not have the money to take legal action.
Also, is there any complaint we can make on behalf of her lack of "ethics" as a realtor in regards to her selling this home to us. Our realtor has suggested that we do this. She says that she has never in all of her years of experience in real estate, seen anything like this, especially by a fellow real estate agent.
I'm sorry for the long email. Sadly, this is just an overview of the things this woman did to the house prior to us closing. We thought we had made a wise decision by getting everything in writing, setting a timeline, and having her money withheld in escrow if these things were not done.
Any advice is helpful.
Thank you so very much. |
| |
| |
 |
I'd scold you for agreeing to close before that roof was on, but I guess you did protect yourselves with the escrow agreement. I would certainly suggest you consult a lawyer, but as you don't want to take on the expense, let me suggest Small Claim Court for a start. You can represent yourselves at little expense and see what a judge has to say. I'm not sure of the dollar limits in Colorado (it's usually a few thousand dollars in most places) but it would certainly cover the light fixtures, so that's a good place to start. Your own broker can tell you how to lodge a complaint against the seller/agent if she is a member of the local Board of Realtors. And then stating your intention to complain to the state licensing authorities, who have the power to put her out of business, may be enough to bring some action. Let me know what happens; I'm interested |
| |
|
Edith
Originally published on June 2, 2007 |
| |
| |
|
Back to Summary
|
< Previous | Next > |
| |
|
|
