Suing for specific performance

[Selma Daut]

Hello! 

I am under contract for a multifamily since October 5th last year, a bit over 4 months as of writing this post. Before getting under contract and offering the asking price, the seller and her agent were telling me that certain repairs were about to be performed, repair of decks and replacement of back side of the roof. Given this information, I offered asking price. Since signing the contract not much has happened because the seller, as it turned out in mid December, didn't even have the drawings done let alone the permit. She claimed she had both in October. I have been paying my loan out of the pocket since early December and am already about $3,000 short just in interest I paid so far. The seller refuses to sell until she does the work herself and she also refuses to uphold all of the provisions of the contract. Deck was in disrepair so it must be rebuilt completely ($8,000) Hence she is  refusing to replace the back side of the roof ($10,000). Meanwhile she is collecting rent. And I am at significant financial loss every month. I have engaged my real estate lawyer but things are not moving at all. I have offered an escrow account at one point so I can close on the deal but she doesn't want to recognize that she is still responsible for the roof replacement. At this point I am thinking to ask my lawyer to threaten with the specific performance lawsuit if she doesn't want to close in the first week of March. All communication was kept in writing so I have plenty to show that she indeed admitted that the roof replacement was part of negotiations but now simply doesn't want to do it. Also, since I am an able and willing buyer since November 6th when I had all the funds available, but closing was always delayed due to seller, do I have any recourse for having her pay me back the interest I paid between the original closing date (Nov 22nd) and the date when we actually close? 

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Selma Daut, I suspect you won't end up with a satisfactory outcome here.

I'm sure the seller would close today if you wanted, but since these items are not yet complete YOU refuse to close. I think most sales contracts would give you the option to terminate the contract and walk way if the seller had not met their obligations to close by the agreed upon closing date. So, the interest you are paying if by your own choice as you could have moved on to another deal.

Forget the issues are repairs and something you believe they should have completed by now. Pretend they are title issues (another common type of issue that holds up closings). With a title issue the seller may have absolutely NO control over how long it takes to resolve. I might take days or a year! The buyer is not held hostage waiting, nor is the seller responsible if the buyer chooses to wait for the closing. I think the same logic can be applied here, the difference being that you feel they should have completed the repairs by now. 

It also sounds like not everything was reduced to writing as it was discussed/negotiated. Did you have an agent representing you? If not you should have because a good agent would have helped keep this situation from getting this far off track. 

[Selma Daut]

Kevin, 

Thank you for your reply. I actually do want to close on this property. I offered to close with an escrow account back in December just to move on. The latest update from the seller is that she finally has a permit but lost another contractor due to everyone waiting on her. She doesn't not actually have the money to cover the cost but waiting for the proceeds of the sale to pay for the repairs. She also stated that she doesn't want to set the closing date at this point until she finds another contractor. So, it's really not me avoiding the closing. 

[Kevin Sobilo]

Quote from @Selma Daut:

Kevin, 

Thank you for your reply. I actually do want to close on this property. I offered to close with an escrow account back in December just to move on. The latest update from the seller is that she finally has a permit but lost another contractor due to everyone waiting on her. She doesn't not actually have the money to cover the cost but waiting for the proceeds of the sale to pay for the repairs. She also stated that she doesn't want to set the closing date at this point until she finds another contractor. So, it's really not me avoiding the closing. 

@Selma Daut, I think you are missing the point. You could close and accept things are they are with no repairs done or you could terminate the contract and walk away. You aren't being held hostage here and the seller isn't refusing to close just not getting the repairs done in a timely manner.

Also, do you have an agent representing you? An agent might be more effective in negotiating this to a conclusion.