CAN A SELLER BACK OUT OF CONTRACT

[David Mora]

I HAVE A PROPERTY UNDER CONTRACT STARTED ESCROW AND NOW THE SELLER SAID BROTHER WANTS HOUSE AND IT SEEMS LIKE SHE MIGHT BE TRYING TO BACK OUT OF CONTRACT MY QUESTION IS DOES SHE LEGALLY HAVE A RIGHT TO DO SO OR CAN I ENFORCE THE CONTRACT?

[Michaela G.]

How bad do you want it?

I always file a memorandum of sale or an affidavit with the courthouse, that I'm under contract to purchase a certain property. That clouds the title and makes it impossible for them to sell to someone else with clear title.

The 2 times where I had sellers backing out, I sued them for performance. There was a lot of profit involved and I was just stubborn ;-). The first one I used an attorney and it took us a while. We got it on summary judgment, when the seller didn't respond to the court. The seller finally came to closing and she had to pay for all the attorney fees.

The 2nd one I filed my own lawsuit, following the pattern of the first one. He caved and came to closing without any further legal action.

If it's just something that would get you a few $, then I would file an affidavit and sit back and see what happens.