Seller refusing to handover Insurance settlement check

[Jacob Beg]

Hi All-

I contracted to purchase a property in MD in as-is condition. Standard realtor contract requires that on settlement date the Seller deliver the property in substantially the same condition as of the day of acceptance of contract.

A week after acceptance, there was a major water leak causing considerable damage. We agreed to delay the settlement so an insurance claim can be pursued by the seller. The addendum only speaks of extending the date but that was the reason anyway. It had to be extended twice due to delays with the seller’s insurance. 

Seller finally agreed, accepted and received a settlement check for the damages. I asked for an endorsement of that check over to me as a fair compensation so I can carry the repairs as the property will have to be rehabbed in other areas. 

Now the seller emailed to “offer” only half of the settlement sum as long as I accept by the end of business day today and settle in 4 days the agreed upon extended date. She is stuck on these terms. 

I want the property but also want to be fairly compensated. Wondering how to tackle this. I can bite my pride and accept the settlement there is decent margin for me to absorb the loss and make less profit ( 10k less) 

I view this as breach of contract  whereby she accepted the insurers assessment (so do I) of the loss and was made whole by the insurer but instead of endorsing the check over or decrease the sale price by the full amount to make me whole, she wants to renegotiate the deal by offering a lower sum. I can use this logic to threaten her with lis pendens as she has inherited the property and wants it sold. Though I think it’s a solid legal argument, an attorney might think otherwise and of course the legal costs and that I rather avoid litigation. 

I waited months and a lot of work has gone into this. I don’t want to jeopardize the deal either by taking overly aggressive stance. But she won’t budge otherwise as per her realtor. 

 Any suggestions on how to tackle this?

Thanks!