what are the laws about closing on a house if fl. i hade a closing date and now having problems?

Question

im the seller and the buyer wanted a closing date of monday so we loaded everthing up this weekend and monday came and they send they couls not close because there finacing was not ready. they said maybe tues., nothing . i also had a sale contingent on this closing. so that is now is on hold i decided to move to the other state now and in libo with an empty house and no house to move into.wrote a extention to the contract for wed and they never contacted us . thurs they said that the lender was asking for more info. can i sue for my moveing cost becacuse they set a closing date with out finacing?

Answer 1

Depends on two things..

1.check to see if they gave you a home warranty

2. did you have a home inspection done.

They are to disclose anything that was known prior to escrow closing..

Answer 2

I sympathize with your situation. Here's how I see it. It is fairly common for buyers to make an offer on a home based on a pre-qualification letter. Once the sale price is agreed upon, they proceed with actually applying for the loan. Failure of the loan to be fully approved prior to closing is fairly common but it does require the buyer to request a change of the closing date which must be approved specifically by you the seller. Once you approve their request then the closing date is rescheduled. You can do this as many times as necessary which is what it sounds like you did. You agreed to postpone the closing so you have no legal recourse unless there is something in your purchase and sale agreement which specified otherwise. You could have said no to their request to postpone the closing date but because they had made a good faith effort to get a loan that simply wasn't approved you would have to refund the earnest money. The purchase and sale agreement would simply be terminated. What I've described is essentially the financing contingency of the purchase and sale agreement. However, then you, of course, would have been forced to find another buyer. So I think you're doing the right thing. Hang in there and it should all work out in the end. I hope this doesn't upset YOUR contingency offer on the home you are purchasing.
Having said all of the above, there is nothing wrong with ASKING the buyers to assume your costs associated with the delays as part of their closing costs. Not the moving costs per se since you would have done that anyway, but the cost of putting up in a hotel while you wait might be reasonable.

Answer 3

Unfortunately this happens frequently. You can sue for anything but the chances of winning in this case are not good.

This is the problem I have with a lot of lenders, especially non conforming lenders, they tell the agents and parties involved everything is fine and at the last minute they throw a monkey wrench into it. Sometimes they close on time, sometimes late and sometimes not at all. It's usually no ones fault except the underwriter or loan officer. Underwriters are unreachable and too many of them think they are GOD because they have total control of the situation. I sometimes think they enjoy pulling this kind of garbage.

A pre approval or pre qualification is not worth the paper it is written on because the underwriter can always ask for additional info. Even at the closing table.

Answer 4

Your realtor (if you had one) should have made sure the buyer's loan was approved before you moved your stuff. This does tend to happen from time to time. I just sold a investment property of mine and they changed the date 4 times. I am a mortgage broker and I was about ready to tell them to go thru me so we can get this done or I will have to sell to someone else.

Matt
http://www.diversifiedlender.com/

Answer 5

First contact the other party and see if they can adjust the closing to meet your needs. If that does not resolve the issue, you need a real estate lawyer to review the contract and determine if you cnan get out it.