Cannot close the contract due to seller; what happens now?

Question

Hello there,I've been under contract and originally closing date was 45 days. Unfortunately seller's lien has some issues and this is keep getting delayed. The contract has passed all the contingencies that I've put (inspection + loan). So there's nothing on my side. This property is in FL so I had to put 10% down for earnest money.The problem here is now, due to mortgage rates increasing, the lock on the offer has been expired. And the lender is charging me per day to keep the interest rate. This is costing me significant money.My question is, how do I proceed in this case. Can I cancel, if the property cannot be closed by the last addendum date? If so, would I be able to get my earnest money back?Also if the lender also states that they can no longer extend the loan, would I have any chance for this contract to be cancelled as I don't want to proceed with higher interest rates.I'm getting opinion here because it's in the lenders/realtors interest to close this property rather than cancel it.

Eric James · Answer

I got a great property under contract. The seller ws a crazy old guy who refused to pay off a couple judgements against him when these were discovered by the title company. I could have just gotten my earnest money back, but I sued for specific performance.  It took close to a year, but eventually a judge ordered him to compete the sale and the judgements were paid off from the proceeds of his sale. I'm in TX.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

This sounds fishy to me..  either records are recorded and public or they are not.. and if they are not recorded how is the title company coming up with them.  maybe your not splaining it right

Wayne Brooks · Answer

Yes, if the seller can not deliver clear title by the scheduled closing date, the the buyer can cancel as per contract and receive their EM back....or agree to extend. This is all detailed in your contract. Do you know Exactly Why the seller is having a problem? Any rate lock extension costs will be worth it if you can close.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Eric this is a rare event good job.. I have done exactly one specific performance cases here in Oregon.. the issue in my case was my contract called for all cash.. so on the closing day i had to put up significant amount of dough and leave it in escrow and it took probably 18 months but it was worth it in our case.  Plus I had paid the sellers back tax's to the tune of 40k so did not want to walk from that but it was well over 200k in cash sitting there while we went through the motions.

Russell Brazil · Answer

Wow, thats so absolutely foreign to me. We know where everyone lives here. Cant find out where a Florida judge lives, but I fan tell you where every Supreme Court Justice lives.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Wayne that is interesting and I can see that for the safety of those folks given the state of our country these days.

One thing I ran into in Oregon is senior tax deferral. its not something that shows up on the tax collector rolls you have to call a special number at the county the property is in and talk to someone in the tax to department to see if the property is in senior deferral and if so how much.. I learned this one the hard way .. could not understand why people were not bidding on this house at Trustee sale.. got stung for 40k and from then on my office called on every property we were going to bid on to double check.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

@Russell Brazil @Jay Hinrichs Florida, at least the property appraiser office, does have an exemption for certain individuals (policemen, judges, etc) that allow the primary residences , at least, to Not show up on property records. I’ve run across this. I’ve never dealt with one, but run across them.

@Sarp Ka I’ve never dealt with these but there has to be a standard process for title companies to verify liens on such properties. If you want the property, hang in there.  You Will be entitled to your EM back though if they can’t get it done by whatever contract closing date you have.  It’s up to you, and the seller, whether you want to extend the contract.

Sarp Ka · Answer

I have checked it on county's website it's not public. So the title company or lien company isn't really lying.

The reason why it's hidden is because the owner is some kind of a government officer. Apparently they have this right to keep things off record.

Anyhow, i don't believe this is something i should be paying. We've already expanded the contract but there's no statement about who is responsible for the loan extras. I'm worried mostly about losing my 10%

Cannot close the contract due to seller; what happens now?

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