All Forum Posts by: Kush Khandelwal

I did pay 1 month's rent to the leasing agent and now I'm loathe to have to pay this again in order to find a new tenant  :( I should speak to the agent and she if can reduce her rates this time around. ...

Originally posted by @John Teachout:

This probably has nothing to do with mold. Let them out of their lease (happy clause) and find another tenant. The rental market all over GA is pretty low on inventory. You'll fill it with someone else and move on.

If they decide not to leave, make them. "the property is currently uninhabitable due to circumstances beyond our control and it will take some time to resolve this issue once it's determined". From my experience, once you press the issue, suddenly the problems are minor when they can't find another affordable property (unless they already have a plan B they're trying to execute.)

Originally posted by @Nick C.:

Mold remediation companies are generally the ones doing the testing. They will 100% find mold. We had a company give us a quote for $40,000 to remediate mold in a property we owned. I looked at the results, the reading for mold was the same inside as it was outside. Meaning opening a door would give that mold reading, not some unseen menace growing in the walls. But they sure would tear our house apart and charge $40k for it. 

Even if you let them out of the lease it doesn't mean you won't hear from an ambulance chasing lawyer in the future about their ongoing "health problems" caused by the 3 weeks of exposure to the mold in your house. Regardless of what you choose to do you should still get it tested, you can buy a mold test kit, but definitely not by a company that does remediation. 

Originally posted by @Kelly Rambo:

@Kush Khandelwal, sorry this is happening to you.  First, I think you need a real estate attorney that specializes is landlord/tenant issues for the best advice.   Second, take my two cents for exactly what it’s worth - 2 cents or less.  Sounds like they want out  and after you have the home assessed and treated, they will find another reason to want to break the lease.   I’d ask them the following, “once we assess and treat (if necessary), do you think you would still be comfortable staying?”   I’d approach it from I want you to be happy here and would hate for you to stay if you wouldn’t be happy here.”  While I recognize this means you have to find a new tenant, but it seems like that may be in your best interest.  If they have not been there a month yet and already threatening to break the lease, it seems likely that in another month it will be something else and on and on until the relationship goes far south.   Again, just my 2 cents.   Good luck.  

Originally posted by @Al D.:

@Kush Khandelwal First of all, I am not a lawyer…

Is your contract similar to this?

https://www.ncrealtors.org/wp-... so, here is some good news:

Unfortunately the seller did not use a standard type PSA (which is what the link you provided seems to point to). It'd have been great if they did however LGI being a national company likely has a team of lawyers who come up with heavily customized PSAs that favor the builder, i.e. LGI. I'll still find a lawyer that can advise me whether I have protections / ability to retrieve my deposit at a minimum since the seller is able to sell the home at a higher price, and hence suffer no loss. 

Your points regarding RWN are well taken. They are supposed to due full diligence and stand behind with their members but are being uncaring and unhelpful in this case. They could have taken my case with the builder but have not done so. 

Originally posted by @Al D.:

@Kush Khandelwal There are some information gaps that I can guess about, but would also like to ask some questions for clarification:

I am guessing that the date for completion of construction/closing was an estimate, but with a stipulation in favor of the builder/seller that they could push it back. I am also guessing that the original contract had no provision for you to be able to push back the closing date. (However: some states allow the parties a one-time - unilateral - extension by X number of days, but only for specific reasons. I don’t know whether NC may have this option, but this could be worth looking into - this should be in the contract.)

 Correct. In the contract the builder stipulated a closing of July 27 or earlier (and reserving a right to push that back for any reason). I looked into NC laws regarding extensions. Apparently a one time 14 day extension is allowed with a 'standard form PSA'. However do not think the builder used the standard form PSA. This PSA does not mention the one time extension possibility. 

When you signed the February purchase contract - and during the subsequent months - did you put in any financing contingencies, such as the sale of your condo has to take place first? From what you’ve said so far, it does not sound like you did.

Correct. I did not add any contingencies. 

Did you have any contingencies, at all, in the original contract? I doubt that you can get the ownership at this stage, but this may help you to get your earnest deposit back. Some terms regarding this should be in the original contract, while additional rules may also apply by state law. (Frankly, regardless of whose side the law may favor in your situation - assuming no apparent dishonesty on your part in the process - I’d expect the seller to give you back this money in good faith, if for no other reason than for being a member of RWN, with whose many more members they’d like to do much more business in the future.)

Unfortunately no, I did not have any contingencies added to the original contract. I'm hoping this post draws attention to RWN members and employees alike. RWN should have some skin in the game and protect the interests of their members. If not, what's the point of going via them and helping them collect commission? Yes, I'd love to get back the deposit at a minimum. 

The next question boils down to whether your July email discussions could be considered a contract. That may be up to courts. For one thing, the original contract may have referred to how any of its terms could be changed - and an email discussion may not be an allowed method both of you had agreed to/agreed to not use for that purpose. Regardless of this, if any of their email replies to you contained language similar to the following, I wouldn’t even bother consulting with an attorney:

“Nothing in this correspondence is intended to form a contract…”

And this language could be in small print.

Great point. I reviewed the email correspondence again. It does not have any small print or language etc to the effect above. 

I am sorry that you are not finding RWN helpful. Not having bought anything from an affiliate in years - and having never dealt with this one in any way - I am guessing that, like me years ago, you did not have an agent representing you/your best interests. I mean, RWN was not involved in the transaction, but only stood to make its referral fee in case you closed. Given that RWN is an “educational company,” after a couple of “lessons” years ago, I learned to get my local education from locally-licensed agents with fiduciary responsibilities to me.

Please fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, for now, I am inclined to side with the seller in terminating your contract and re-listing - they may owe money to their investors, and delays could be costly.