Good Deal Going Bad...Do I Have Recourse?

[Barbara McArthur]

When I was looking at a house with a Realtor the seller showed up.  He talked a lot and one of the things he said was that he'd hold the note.  Later I asked the Realtor to follow up with that and she reported that he wanted to meet me.  Neither of us knew what he wanted.  I told him I was offering him his full price if he'd hold the note at 4% simple interest, payments or $240 per month and a balloon in 5 years.  He just said yes and told the Realtor to write it up.  She asked him if he wanted anything else written into the contract and he said no.  She wrote it up on a sheet of paper and said she'd write up a formal contract and get it to us the next day, which she did.  As we were leaving he said, "By the way, do you have much debt?"  I said, "I'm cosigned on my kids' college loans which gives me a high debt to income ratio and hurts my credit rating.  Besides that, I don't have much debt."  He said OK.  She wrote up the contract and we both signed it the next day.  A week later he told the Realtor he wanted some kind of proof that I could make the payment and a print out from a credit agency about my credit rating.  I said, it was too late for that, we have a contract.  To that he replied that he would not sign the closing documents if I did not provide the information.  The Realtor said that she knew I did not legally have to provide the information but it would smoothe the way if I did.  I provided a copy of my March bank statements and ran a credit report on Credit Karma.  Then he said he wanted the settlement lawyer to review it.  I said That's not the lawyer's job, I'll provide the information to the seller as a courtesy.  So the Realtor is going to present the information to him tomorrow.  I told her that he must perform regardless because we have a contract.  She said, "Yes, I know".  As I understand it, if he refuses to sign the paperwork I have grounds to sue for failure to perform.  This house is a good deal so I don't want to just let it go.  I know this is a lot, but this is my first deal and I'm wound up about it.  Do I have recourse if he fails to sign the closing documents?